Elijah
by Jessi84
Summary: This is my own way of dealing with the whole "Horatio has a son" subject on the show. And hopefully a way to show Horatio as a father, which we sadly can't really see on the show. Horatio/OC implied and DuCaine of course. Co-written with melles
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Horatio couldn't help but roll his eyes when the front door was shut with a loud bang. His visitor would never need to call out to get his attention, that was for sure. No, his visitor had never been the sort of person to make a so-called quiet entrance. Not 16 years ago. Not now. And Horatio seriously doubted they ever would. But certainly hoped so, for the sake of his door.

"You do know that it is possible to close the door quietly, right?" He welcomed his guest without looking up from the book he was reading. He knew who it was – Elijah. He just wondered what the boy was doing here. It was Friday evening after all, and 15 year old boys normally spent those nights with their friends and not with someone like him – a father.

Unimpressed, Elijah walked into the living room. "Yeah, I know. Hi, Dad," the blonde grinned and sat down on the sofa across from Horatio.

"And still you won't change it," Horatio declared and searched for a bookmark. His son was a rascal, and according to his mother, it came from his father's side, a fact Horatio refused to see, of course. "To what do I owe the honor of this visit, son?"

Getting comfortable, Elijah crossed his hands behind his head. "Oh, nothing in particular," he answered casually and looked at his father. "I was just in the area and thought I'd come and see you." Besides, he was hungry and he had a plan to fulfill. He just didn't want to blurt it out right now. Elijah loved the verbal exchanges with his dad, and his mom always told him, that they were cast from the same mold, at least when it came to their characters. But even their looks were very similar, especially their eyes, which were glistening artfully.

"You're looking good, Dad."

"Alright," Horatio smiled broadly and put down his book. "What do you want?" He didn't really need to ask; he knew his teenage son well. "You want to raid the fridge, huh?" Elijah could eat Horatio out of house and home, but Horatio could live with that. The boy needed it, being so athletic. "Have a look in the freezer, there should be a pizza. Or you can heat up the rest of the lasagna." Seeing the boy's face light up, Horatio knew he'd been right. "And then you can tell me what you really want," he winked at him. "And what it will cost me."

"What makes you think that what I want would cost you anything?" the boy countered and stood up to make his way into the kitchen. "You want to eat something, too?"

"No, thank you. But you can get me a lemonade if you want to," Horatio called back. "You want to know how I know it will cost me something? Let me think…when you needed the new baseball bat you told me I was looking good. Same with the new glove.. oh and not to mention when you need money for the movies," he listed. "Should I go on?"

While pottering around in the kitchen, he kept on talking with him. "Yeah sure. Go on, even though all those things were basic needs," Elijah answered coolly. Another characteristic he got from his father.

After the lasagna made its way into the microwave, Elijah looked for two glasses and searched for the pitcher. "Gotcha," he murmured and filled the glasses.

"Basic needs…ah…that's what you call it?" Horatio teased. "Like your new training jacket? Which already looks worn by the way?" No, this was definitely no fashion. It looked like the moths had already had their fun with it. "If it was decent jeans, but no, everything you buy has holes." Thank God, he didn't wear those baggy pants, the things hung everywhere except where they should. Then he would have mounted the barricades.

Elijah's head appeared in the door crack. "Dad, if I didn't wear the jacket while I'm training, it wouldn't be called a training jacket, right? And besides, it looks cool and the girls love it."

"The girls like it, when your clothes look like Swiss Cheese? Nah," Horatio shook his head. "I can't imagine that, Junior."

"Hmph," the boy pulled a face when he heard the Junior. "You bet Dad!" With that he walked back into the kitchen.

Grinning about the comment, Horatio put his legs on a small stool, waiting for Elijah to come back with his drink. "In the past, the girls would have sneered at it," he declared and wondered about the youth nowadays.

With a tray, Elijah appeared and maneuvered carefully to the table. "Oh really? When I think about the clothes you've worn…those skin-tight loon pants. Not to mention the hairstyle…," he grinned charmingly. He had seen pictures of his father in old photo albums from his mother. "…really embarrassing."

"This was fashionable son and what can I say? Your mom liked it," he nodded and reached for his glass. "And what do you mean about the hairstyle?" He tilted his head, waiting for an answer, but wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to hear it.

"This was no hairstyle, it was a dead poodle," Elijah laughed. "All these sideburns." Piece for piece, the lasagna wandered into his mouth. "Sure you don't want some?" He was a good boy after all.

"Positive, I already had some. And I'll ignore the dead poodle remark young man." Chiding he lifted his forefinger, before he drank. When he watched his son eating, he asked himself how he made it. He himself had never eaten that much without gaining weight. But his son seemed to be blessed. "So what's going on?"

Elijah grabbed a napkin and looked at his dad. "Mom threw me out," he answered lapidary and tried to keep a straight face.

Quickly, Horatio slapped his chest chokingly. "What?" he asked shocked. "What happened?"

"Don't know. She packed her suitcase and told me she'd be gone." His father's shocked face was priceless. He would have given the world to take a photo of it, but he didn't want to risk his life.

"You're kidding me, right?" His ex-wife would never do that. Not without a good reason at least. But when he thought about it…a teenager would be a good one. "Where's mum?"

"Not here anymore?" The boy shrugged his shoulders, but couldn't help but smile. "Daaad, keep your hair on. She's in Orlando for the weekend. And I had to promise her, that I'd stay with you. And ta da…here I am. Isn't that fantastic?"

"Hm, your mum didn't tell me about it," Horatio answered with feigned boredom. "The whole weekend?" He pulled a face. "Oh great…" Two could play this game.

"That's what I told her. I'm old enough to stay alone at home for three days," he pouted.

All he could do was smile. "In your dreams son, but only in them."

"Oh yeah? Just give me a good reason," Elijah countered.

"You're 15 years old."

"That's no reason."

"It is. For your mother and me. And that should be enough for you. I wasn't allowed to stay at home alone at this age and it didn't harm me. So you're going to live with it." He was on Samantha's side. 15 year olds had the tendency to have wild parties when the parents weren't at home. Not to mention that girls were there too without any control. No way.

"Man…Kenny is always alone when his mum is away and his dad won't come home for the weekend," Eli whined and couldn't understand it. "So why can't I?" He had an easy relationship with his parents, but not when it came to this topic.

"Because your name isn't Kenny. What Kenny's parents do or not is irrelevant. You aren't staying alone at home over the weekend, Elijah. I'm sorry, but this is the end of the discussion." He wasn't strict with the boy that often, but in this case he was. He had had so many young people as victims. First they'd been to a party and then drove the car in a drunken state. And there was no way he would open this door to his son and his friends.

Knowing that there was no use to argue with his dad, Elijah snorted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Secretly, he wasn't all that mad about his father's decision, because that's where he wanted him. "And what do I get as compensation?"

"A roof above your head? That's worth a lot, don't you think? And a warm meal. Almost like a hotel. No wait, it _is_ like a hotel."

"Not acceptable," he shook his head. "You have to come up with something better."

"Why me, when it's you who needs the roof?" Horatio asked amused and already knew that his son had a plan. But he loved to have him on the hook.

"Because I could stay with grandma and grandpa? And you would be the one being here all alone?" Yes, he also had an ace up on his sleeves.

"What makes you think I'd be alone? And how do you know, that I'm not on call this weekend, hm? And if you really want to go stay with grandma and grandpa, who get up at eight even on the weekend, go ahead. I'm not stopping you."

Sometimes, there was no fun in bargain with his dad. He needed a moment to come up with a good answer. "You're mean dad."

"That was my revenge for the poodle," Horatio smiled back and nodded at him, a bit more serious. "So what did you plan for us?" He loved spending time with his son, without any female influence.

Satisfied about accomplishing his goal, he ate the last piece of his meal and answered him, when he had swallowed. "Something for real men. Just us, a boat and two fishing poles." Sometimes it was scaring him that even their hobbies were the same, but in this case, it was very good. Except for baseball. But fishing came right afterwards.

That was after his fancy. "I think Maria is filled up and the caboose too," Horatio nodded and referring to the small cruiser he had bought years ago, when Eli had still been a toddler. "All right, let me call the lab to tell them I'll be gone and if you want to, we can go tomorrow if the weather is good. What do you think?"

A broad smile was appearing on Eli's face. "You're not on call?" The fact that he had been at war with his father's job was known to his family. Eventually, it had been this job putting obstacles in the family's way. Thanks to this job, his father had more enemies then he could count and that's why Samantha had lived in constant fear for her husband, which had caused a permanently damage in the relationship. This was the reason why Elijah had his mother's maiden name, another fact, why it had been hard for him to identify himself with his father.

But there weren't only disadvantages, he knew that. His dad hadn't missed a lot baseball matches and was usually around when he needed his help, even after the divorce. From two of his friends he knew that it could be a lot worse, because the Mitchell's and Connelly's were always arguing, even after the divorce. So the solution in staying with his mum and having a shelter with his dad was a lot better.

"Nope, I don't," Horatio shook his head and knew how much that meant to his son. "And even if I did, I would have switched with someone. I just have to tell them that I'm going to be out of cell range, that's all. What about you getting your stuff upstairs, have a look in the internet about the weather and I make the call?"

Jubilant, the boy jumped up and raised his fist into the air. "Awesome. Thanks Dad!"

Laughing he watched his Junior. Spending time with his son was the number one on his list. "Let's see who will get the message," he murmured to himself. He would only tell them, that he won't be in Miami. No words about Elijah. The less people knew about his fatherhood, the more secure the boy was and that included his team.

_T__bc and Feedback is much appreciated_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Silence. That's what Horatio liked. No street noises, no building sites in his near, no cell phones chirping, and no neighbors cutting the grass at 7 in the morning. Just silence. Every now and then there was a low ripple of the waves against the boat and sometimes the cry of a gull. Yes, that's what he loved. Casually, he lay in his chair on deck, wearing his fishing hat, pulled down low over his face, a sight no one but his son would ever see, and let himself be lulled by the waves. The fishing poles were standing in their gadgets, waiting for a bite. It wasn't about the fishing itself, but more about the togetherness with his sprig, who was currently below deck, getting them something to drink. When they caught a fish, they'd be happy, if not, it wouldn't decry their trip. They had enough food and still a lot of time to catch a fish.

Laden with two cans of limo, Elijah closed the small door of the cabin behind him and slumped down next to his dad. He wasn't entirely sure if his dad was still awake, but there was a good way of finding out. "Dad?"

Horatio knew that tone and most of the time it spelled trouble. At least for him. How easy it would be to feign sleep? But this would go against everything he believed in, so he lifted his hat a bit to peep out under the brim. "Mhm?"

"When did you have your first girlfriend?"

He knew it! He knew that this would lead into such a direction. A direction that made him still feel uncomfortable, even at his age. They already had had The Talk a few years ago, when Horatio had almost died of embarrassment. And now his son came up with such a question? Life was unfair. "Why do you ask?"

A shrug of the shoulder was everything he got as an answer.

And this told him, that Eli was serious about it. "I was a bit older than you. Why do you ask? Do you have one?" If he did, it was even better that Samantha hadn't allowed him to stay home alone. If his ex-wife knew about it anyway. Boys weren't known for talking about such things with their mothers.

Playing with his baseball cap and putting it on again, Elijah tried to stall for time. "Well...probably," he muttered, not sure of how to deal with the situation. Actually, yes. I think."

"You think?" Horatio was confused, but really interested. "Hm, this means she isn't your girlfriend yet, but you wouldn't mind?"

"Yes," the boy nodded. "I like her a lot. And she likes me too. But we only just met at the start of the school year. Her parents moved to Miami and she came into my class," he explained freely. He knew he could trust his father with the information and be taken seriously at the same time.

"That's wonderful, Eli. I'm happy for you. Does mom know?" When she found out, he was pretty sure she would ask him to have another talk about the birds and bees with his son. He knew Samantha, she was a bit overprotective. Then again, he wasn't so keen on becoming a grandfather right now, if and only if the two love birds would get that far.

Sheepishly, Elijah looked out to the ocean before answering. "No, mum doesn't know. I've only known Amber for 3 weeks, dad." If he would have told his mum, she'd have told him to talk about certain things with his dad. But he already knew about those things.

"Then she won't hear it from me, as long as you promise me to tell her some day." He would never abuse the trust of his son. It was too precious for him. "Then I do hope that Amber is The One for you," he smiled. "And you won't make me a grandfather, okay? Not now anyway." This was really serious. "You can think about such…_things_…when you're older."

"Man…," he rolled his eyes, grinned, but quickly became serious again. "We didn't uhm..," he cleared his throat, "…well you know…" Even though there was nothing to be ashamed of, the topic wasn't so easy for him, but there had been nothing more than a kiss on the cheek.

"That's how it should be. You're far too young for it anyway," Horatio stated. "You should take your time until you're…30."

He was about to say something, when it dawned to him. "Ah. So like you dad?"

"Right," Horatio nodded and laughed. "Okay, let's say not until you're 30, but definitely till you're older than now. It's a big step; no one should take lightly, no matter how old he or she is." Eventually he could just build on his son's prudence. But when the hormones gained the upper hand, he couldn't do anything against it.

"Was mum your first girlfriend?" Elijah asked.

"No," H answered truthfully. "But she was my second. I met her in college, while I had my first girlfriend in High School."

"Did you have this prickle…?" It was very interesting for Elijah, since they never had the chance, or the reason to talk about such things.

"Oh yes," Horatio smiled dreamily, being 20 years away. "I couldn't eat, because I got sick thanks to the anxiety and I stuttered because I was so nervous. I'm still surprised that she didn't think I was an idiot," he laughed heartily about himself. "Believe me, there is nothing better than being in love, in case it works for both ways."

Elijah nodded. His feelings were the same, yet different. "How do you know, that you found The One?"

"You just know it. I don't think it's the same with everyone. If you're looking forward to see this woman every day, if you feel this prickle while thinking about her…if you want to share everything with her…these are all signs for it. It can be love or not…you'll see in time. Lucky ones find them immediately, others…need a bit longer."

Mindful, the boy listened to him. What his father said made sense, but he still couldn't explain why he was still single. Apparently, Samantha Fisher had not been The One. Or they'd still be married and his mother wouldn't have a boyfriend. "So that means, you're not one of the lucky ones, right?" He carefully asked, because he didn't want to destroy this special moment.

Horatio had to think about that for a while. Probably not, right? He wasn't sure about it. He was happy, but something was missing, no, someone he could share his happiness with. Someone who accepted him like he was. Someone who was…unreachable for him. "No, I don't think so," he denied in the end, a small spark of regret in his voice.

Despite everything this surprised Elijah. "Have you been happy with mum at all?"

"Yes. You wouldn't be here, if I hadn't. Believe me," he smirked. "Besides, I wouldn't have married her. I was very happy with her, but through different circumstances…," he shrugged his shoulders. "I guess she wasn't The One for me. But I don't regret a thing."

Thoughtfully, Elijah played with his fishing pole. He had recognized the sad undertone in his father's voice. Once again a typical Caine character trade – empathy. "Do you think you will find her some day?"

"Maybe…I do hope so. According to aunt Alexx I already have, but I think she's wrong about this."

The fishing pole was forgotten immediately and the boys' head turned into his father's direction. "You found someone?" That would be fantastic. He so wished that his father would find a girlfriend. He could see that this whole situation was hurting his dad a lot, even though he didn't want to admit it. This was a bad Caine character trade – being a lone wolf and not talking about your feelings openly.

"If you mean that I'm dating someone, then no," he quickly shook his head. "It wouldn't work. It's too complicated. But tell that aunt Alexx, she doesn't want to hear it," he rolled his eyes playfully.

The boy blinked confused. If his father wasn't going out with her, they were no couple, right? "I don't get it. You have a girlfriend? But you're not going out with her?" Adults were really weird sometimes.

"What?? No, no. I don't have a girlfriend. Alexx just said she was the right one. That's all. But what I think is that it's too complicated, but you know aunt Alexx, she doesn't want to hear such things." Once Alexx smelled a rat, you were lost.

"Complicated?" Now he was totally confused, which was plain to see. He narrowed his eyes he run the back of his hand over his forehead, showing a glimpse of his blonde hair. "How do you mean?"

"For one thing, this woman is younger than me...," Horatio started and took a deep breath. "And the biggest problem is that we work together. And work relationships aren't really wanted. Furthermore, I highly doubt she's interested in me. She can have any man in the lab, she just needs to snap her fingers and ta da she has them at her feet."

Quickly he went through the group picture he had seen once and since there was only one other woman except of aunt Calleigh in his father's team, he didn't have any problems to pick her out. "The blonde?"

Horatio frowned. "How do you know?"

Oops. "Uhm…am I right?" Elijah ignored the question. Best defence.

"Yeah, you are, but I ask myself what you're doing in your free time, Junior," he chided him playfully. "Her name is Calleigh, she's my ballistic expert."

"Wow. Cool." Elijah was pleased with himself, apparently he had inherited his father's CSI talents. Or he had been incredible lucky. "And? You wanna ask her? I mean for a date, not the other important question," he grinned.

"Believe me, I wouldn't ask her _that_," Horatio laughed, bur became serious again. "I don't think so, no. There's just too much against it. It's not like…I'm not interested in her but.."

"Then there is no but," Elijah shook his head. "Daaad are you scared??"

"Of course not." Of course he was. When he was interested in a woman, he still got nervous like 20 years ago. "I just think that it's going to be too complicated, I'm her boss after all."

He knew his dad was lying. "Of course you are."

"And even if I were scared…it's not a bad thing…purely hypothetical of course. There's a lot at stake for me…and since she doesn't seem to be interested in me, it's not worth thinking about it." Why did he agree to have this conversation?

"So you already asked her? Or how do you know, that she's not interested in you?"

"I just know it, okay? There's nothing that says she does." It wasn't quite a rational thinking, but when someone was in love he didn't use his mind.

Since his dad started to block, Elijah stopped before he would overstep the mark. "You never know. But I'd be happy for you," he whispered and looked out to the sea.

Horatio smiled and squeezed his son's shoulder. "Thank you. You wouldn't mind? Me, having another woman in my life other than your mother?" Elijah was the most important person in his life and if he had to decide between his son and a woman, the woman would always lose.

His head turned to his dad. "Why not? Mom's got Paul," he shrugged at the mention of his mother's boyfriend.

"Right. I just wanted to make sure. In case I ever ask her out."

"As long as you're still there for me," the boy said. "It's fine."

"I will be for as long as you want me, son. No matter when, where or how late it is. You know that and nothing will change it." There was no doubt about it. "So when will I get to meet Amber?" He asked mischievously.

He was silent for a moment and tapped with his foot. It wasn't that easy. "Am I allowed to?" Sometimes he felt like being part of a witness protection program. Always needing to ask what he was allowed to say or not. "I mean…I haven't told her about you."

This was an awkward situation. Normally, Horatio did everything to avoid telling people that Eli was his son. But…he also wanted to be a part of his life and that meant that he wanted to meet the girlfriend. "You know we talked about that, son," he said softly and let his hand rest on the boy's shoulder. He had promised Elijah, that he could decide when he turned 21 whether he wanted to stay a Fisher or become a Caine. "And I really want to meet Amber. If you trust her, then so do I."

Taking a deep breath, Elijah bit his lip. "I've…only known her for a short time, so I don't really know what do to," he admitted with a hint of melancholy in his voice. On the one hand he was curious about his father's opinion about Amber, on the other hand he didn't want to risk their secret by accident. That was one reason why he had never visited the lab, even though he really wanted to see it some time.

Difficult. This was really difficult. It hurt him badly that his son always had to cut back because of his job. "What about waiting for a bit and see what happens. And then you two come to visit me, or I'll come over. And if she asks who your dad is…tell her the truth and if she asks about my work…tell her the truth again."

He could live with that. "Okay," he nodded and laid his hand on his father's. "Sounds like a plan."

"Very good. Now let's see if we get a bite or not, okay?" Horatio smiled contently and winked at his son. "And don't you dare to team up with aunt Alexx, hm?"

Enraged by that, Elijah straightened himself up. "Me? Team up with aunt Alexx?! No way!"

"I'm not sure if I can believe you," Horatio grinned. "I don't think so. If I ask her out, then it's in my pace."

"That will take forever," the boy whined playfully. "I should ask aunt Alexx for advice."

"No you won't. You…you have no idea what will happen with Alexx if you do. She'll transform into a match-maker and _that_ is dangerous," he said melodramatically. "And now enough of my non-existent love life and back to fishing."

Elijah liked that. "So you have at least one sense of achievement, hm?" He nudged his dad and nothing remained of the shy boy a few minutes ago.

"Positive, Junior. I'm gonna show you how to catch a fish. Watch, learn and take notes," he laughed. He had needed this fishing trip.

**tbc**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Nervously, Horatio swept his hands over his suit pants and took a deep breath. He was nervous. Terribly nervous. Since this morning, he hadn't been able to eat anything, because every time he looked at food he felt like puking. Why had he talked about his puppy love with Elijah? This had been the biggest mistake ever, because now he had to actually do something. How else could he tell his son in a believable way, that you had to swallow your pride, to get what you want? Definitely not by being scared about asking a woman out for dinner. Or drink. Whatever Calleigh liked more. If she liked it at all. She probably had a boyfriend. A biker or something – leather jacket, tattooed, whose name was Skull. Perhaps he should just turn around, walk away and tell his son afterwards that Calleigh hadn't been interested. Perhaps…he should open the door and enter, since Calleigh was watching him with an amused grin and that was never a good sign.

"_You can do this. You did it once, you can do it again. And it doesn't matter that it was 20 years ago. That you're so much older, that she's your employee and can pick any man who's so much better than you are," _he bolstered himself, which disappeared immediately.

"_Me and my big mouth. It was bound to happen."_ But before he made a complete fool of himself, he carefully opened the door and entered the ballistic lab. 

"Hi…," he said quietly and was quite happy to be alone with her. Since their shift had ended an hour ago, there was a good chance of not meeting Speed and Eric, after Calleigh had turned him down.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" She greeted her boss with a friendly smile. Even though he had just said one word to her, she already knew that he was acting differently.

"Uhm…" Yeah, this was a very good question. "D-did I disturb y-you? I mean…shift has ended and you should be home…"

Did Horatio stutter? _"You really need to get home, Cal. You're imagining things."_ Being sure that a stuttering Horatio was no possibility, she abandoned the idea. The man himself was self-confidence. "No, you aren't. I was starting to clean up here and was half on my way out. So what can I do for you?" Right now she was sure he wanted to talk about something concerning the job.

"I wanted to ask you something…uhm…per-personal.." He had a hard time getting the words out and looking at his very interesting shoes didn't help a bit. This was much worse than any nightmare.

"Oh, okay," she nodded and needless to say – curious. She examined the man in front of her, who was acting weird, fascinated by his feet and not being able to form one more word. "So?" She was definitely amused.

Great she was already laughing at him. What would she do once he had asked her? Probably roll on the floor laughing. "I…wanted to ask you, if..if you've…got t-time..next Friday," he started, being careful about talking loud and coherent enough.

"Horatio? Are you feeling okay?" Leaning towards him, she could just stop herself from reaching out to him and test if he got a fever. This was not the Horatio Caine she knew.

Seemingly not, since this Horatio Caine was about to make a complete fool of himself. "Uhm…actually yeah," he said worriedly and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "If you…if you…don't have…then it's o-okay..time I mean…" Why was there no hole in the floor to swallow him? Before he would go through this again, he would stay single.

She waited a minute. "So..what are you doing on Friday?" A question didn't cost a thing, right?" And she wanted to know what he was up to.

"Having dinner…with someone?" He answered and got pink cheeks. "Or a drink, depends on what she likes…," he shrugged.

"Oh." She blinked. "You mean…with me?"

"Y-yeah?" Carefully he looked up from his shoes, not being able to read her reaction. "B-but if you don't want to, it's okay. I understand that. I shouldn't have asked in the first in the first place, I'm sorry," he rambled, without giving her a chance to give him a real answer.

Now she stood up from her desk and bridged the gap between them. Carefully she laid her hands on his arms. "I'd love to." Even though she wasn't exactly sure why. "Is there a particular reason?"

"Except of that I just want to go out with you?" He asked her softly, feeling the butterflies in his stomach, when she touched him. "Getting to know you..outside of the lab. Not as a colleague or some friend." He looked at her openly, because he didn't want them to have two different perceptions.

At first, she couldn't reply to this, but just stared at him. When she got herself together again, she took a step back. Did Horatio say that he wanted to go out with her? She had waited so long for this to happen and now it was really happening and she hesitated. "Uhm, wow. This is…surprising."

Losing all his courage, though he didn't have much of it in the first place, Horatio let his shoulders slump, when she let go of his arms. He knew this famous 'it's surprising, but..' excuse from former experiences. "If you don't want to, it's okay. It had been a stupid idea. I'm sorry… you really have to feel uncomfortable right now, that wasn't my intention." The fact that she already had agreed to go out with him, slipped him due to his own hesitancy.

"No, no," she smiled, when she noticed the misunderstanding. "You don't have to be sorry, because I'd really like to go out with you. I just wanted to know what I have to expect…a dress or jeans. You know something like this." She had to admit that she loved his shyness and that he was overly cute, because right now he looked like he would jump for joy.

"You really want to go out with me?" He repeated in disbelief and couldn't believe his luck. "This is just totally," he started joyfully and when he saw her amused grin, he smiled and calmed down a bit, "I'm happy…and…you don't need a dress, no. I know a small Italian restaurant. So I just want you to feel comfortable. If that is jeans and t-shirt, feel free to wear that."

"Okay, good. Thanks for the invitation, Horatio. I'm looking forward to it."

"I have to thank _you_, Cal," he smiled back. "Would it be okay, if I get you around 7?"

"Please," she nodded and couldn't help but think, that he looked like a child at Christmas. "7 p.m. I'll be ready."

"I'll be on time. I'm really happy about this, Cal," he repeated himself. "Don't work too long, okay? You deserve your down time." Just like he did.

"Mhm, if you wouldn't have held me up, I'd be at home for some time already," she grinned at him.

"Well in that case, I'm gonna accompany you. We don't want that happen again," he smiled back.

"A real gentleman, that's what I like." It sounded rakishly, but Calleigh loved such manners. Sadly, such sense of duty was nowhere to be seen with most men. Quickly, she put away her files and grabbed her keys. "I'm ready," she said and stood next to him.

"May I?" He bowed playfully and opened the door for her. "After you, Ma'am.."

"Thank you kind, Sir," she laughed and had the time of her life. She was sure she wouldn't regret spending an evening with Horatio.

_**tbc**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Being in a very good mood, Elijah stood in front of a group of people, who were sitting in his mom's garden, and told them his view of the game. "Oh well, the fact that Dominic started to argue with the referee at the end of the fifth Inning, was our advantage," he told them with a grin. He wore his baseball cap the wrong way, which made him look cheekier. In his right hand he had his limo can, while he needed the left one to gesticulate. "Apart from the fact that we were the better team anyway."

Samantha and Paul looked at each other and shook their heads. The boy didn't lack self-confidence, that was for sure. "I didn't expect anything else," Paul nodded and smiled. Even though Elijah wasn't his biological son, they got along pretty well. Which was perhaps down to the fact, that the boy had a very good relationship with his parents, who in turn weren't at loggerheads.

Amber wasn't so much into Baseball and so she couldn't add a lot to the conversation. But she did have a compliment in store for her boyfriend. "You were really great today," she confirmed and looked at him lovingly.

Elijah got a bit shy when he heard the words. It was the one thing getting compliments from your parents, but getting them from your girlfriend was so much better. "Thanks," he murmured, tilted his head and looked at the dark-blondish girl charmingly.

Grinning, Samantha looked from her son to her boyfriend and gently nudged his side when she noticed that Eli blushed. He only did that when he was really shy. Just like his father, when she thought about it. "You all played very well," she nodded. "Could I interest someone in a dessert?" After the game, they had gotten some pizza and eaten it in the garden. She already knew the answers of the men, so she asked Amber directly. "Would you like some?" Since the day, one week ago, when Elijah had told her about his girlfriend, she was always happy to see the girl. A second woman in the male dominated household was a blessing.

"I'd love to, Mrs. Fisher," Amber replied politely. "May I help you?"

"Sure, if you want to. We have ice cream in many variations," she smiled back and stood up. "We'll be back in a minute." Together they went into the house to prepare the dessert.

Paul gazed after them, sipped on his beer bottle and looked at Elijah, who had started to clear away the pizza boxes. "She's a very nice girl. You're a lucky boy," he winked at him.

This caused Elijah to blush again. "I'm happy that you like her." An outside observer would have never guessed, that they weren't related at all, since they acted quite conversantly.

***

Cheerfully, Horatio grabbed the small present for his son and locked up the car. Sadly, he didn't have the chance to come to the game, since he had to be at a court hearing. He knew that Elijah was old enough to understand that, but he still had a bad conscience when he couldn't be a part of important occasion of his son. He ignored the front door and walked straight to the garden, where he'd heard voices. And since he had once owned this place, he still had a key for the door, so he entered it without any problems. "Junior!" He greeted his son, "How did it end?"

Startled, Elijah turned to the garden gate. "Dad!" He smiled and walked up to him. "What do you think?" He stopped right in front of his dad and spread his arms. This posture and his huge smile should be enough evidence.

"Well, when I see you smile like that, you won of course," Horatio laughed and hugged his son with only one arm, the other he kept behind his back. "Congratulations, that's awesome." He was always very proud of his son, whether or not the team had won. The important thing was that Elijah had tried his best.

"Hello, Paul," he gave the man a nod and parted from his son. He and Paul…well they got along. As long as the man didn't hurt Samantha or even worse his son, Horatio was content. But should Paul hurt them, Horatio would have his head and Paul knew that.

"Horatio," the man nodded in return in form of a greeting.

"Where's mom?"

"Inside, preparing the dessert. We had Pizza, but I didn't know you would come, so there's nothing left," Elijah told him and it was obvious that it was awkward for him to have nothing for his father to eat. "Maybe mom has something for you?" He offered him and then noticed that his dad appeared to be one-armed. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing?" Horatio laughed and shook his head. "That's fine, I just left court. Had been surprising, but nevertheless I'm happy, because I had the time to get something very important done," he started to make things a bit more suspenseful. When he noticed that his son got more and more impatient, he handed him a small package, one that had been hidden behind his back.

"F-for me? Why's that?" Elijah asked obviously surprised, took the present but didn't open it.

"Just because, Eli. Open it. I know you've been waiting a long time for it and I'm sorry that I needed so long," Horatio replied. Since he'd started going out with Calleigh, his thoughts hadn't been in the here and now but more on cloud nine most of the time. In addition to that, the job had claimed his attention and therefore he hadn't found the time to get the present. But now he had made it.

"Wow, thanks," the boy smiled, even though he had no idea what was inside the package. Quickly he ripped the gift wrap apart and opened the cardboard box. There wasn't much inside, but what he saw was even better. Blinking he looked at his dad and then back to the contents. The only thing that came into his mind was a "Wow".

Horatio smirked when Elijah hold up the famous 'L' plate, which allowed him to drive. "I hope you like it."

"And then some, dad", Eli said and was utterly happy when he hugged his dad fiercely. Only a few more inches and he would be as tall as his dad. "Thanks so much."

"My pleasure." His son got taller and taller every day. Soon he'd be taller than him. "So mom is inside? Better get inside to get some ice cream," Horatio grinned.

"There's no need to do that, Horatio. I saw you coming," Samantha stopped him when she appeared with a tray. "I thought you wouldn't say no to chocolate. But first of all – Hi, it's good to see that you made it."

Amber had followed her and gave the strange man a polite smile. "Hi."

"You know me too well, Samantha," Horatio nodded at her and then focused on the girl. "Hi, you have to be Amber, right? It's a pleasure to meet you." He really meant it, because he was very curious about meeting her, since she was the first one of Eli's friends who would get to know him as Eli's father.

When she heard her name, Amber put down the other tray and looked at the red haired man. "Yes, I am. But how do you..?"

Elijah took advantage of the favorable situation. "Amber, I want you to meet my father," he stood next to her and pointed to his dad. "This is Horatio." As Horatio had already worked out who she was, he didn't have to introduce her to him, but did anyway. "Dad, this is Amber." Proudly he let his arm rest over her waist.

Amber struggled to follow the conversation. "B-but I thought…Paul is your father?" She asked quietly and seemed to be unsure.

Now it was Paul's turn to throw his 2 cents in. "No, Amber. I'm not his father. He is."

"Right. It's a bit…complicated here," Horatio rolled his eyes in an amused way. "But I am indeed Elijah's father."

"Paul is my partner," Samantha stepped in, because she knew that it was quite confusing. She didn't want to use the phrase surrogate father, since Paul wasn't. You only needed someone like that, when the biological father wasn't present in your life, but Horatio surely was.

"Oh, okay," Amber nodded and tried to process the news. "I didn't know that, Eli had never said…anything about that."

"Well, like it's been said…it's complicated," Elijah used nearly the same words like Horatio did. "But let's eat the ice cream, it's starting to melt."

"This sounds good," Horatio agreed and motioned the others to have a seat.

"What's that in your hand?" Samantha asked curiously when she handed out the dessert.

"You won't believe it," Elijah smiled broadly and proudly presented her the plate. "My free ticket for the Hummer!"

"I never said that," Horatio interjected and already choked on his ice cream.

"Oh that's the dream of any mother; Father and son driving around in a car, which is more a tank, than a car."

"Exactly. Nothing can happen to us," Eli responded calmly and shoved a big spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

"It's not you I'm worried about," Samantha shook her head.

"Neither am I", Horatio agreed and wondered how he could come out of this.

"I do hope you give a holler when you're under way, right? Because then I'll stay at home," Paul went one better.

"Hey! I'm not that bad," Elijah sulked, but was very satisfied. Right now his father strove against driving lessons with the Hummer, but it was only a matter of time since he had wrapped him around his little finger.

"We will see. But I don't see any problem, if you have inherited my talent."

Samantha couldn't help but laugh. "Lord help us!"

"Nonsense," Elijah put her off. "We can make it, right dad?" Looking at Amber he asked, "Have you ever sat in a Hummer? It's awesome."

"Uhm, no. Where can you do that?"

"Dad has one," the answer came easily over his lips and it didn't take a lot to notice that Junior was as fascinated by the car as Senior.

"And what makes you think, that we can use the Service-Hummer?" Horatio asked and tried to avert the calamity. Albeit he loved the fact that his son was as smitten by the car as he was.

"Service-Hummer?" Amber asked confused.

"We could also use a private Hummer, if you own one," the boy countered, his steel blue eyes twinkling in mischief. Smiling he leaned towards Amber. "Dad works for the police."

"No kidding? That's cool."

"Yes, but that's also the reason why no one knows that Elijah is my son," Horatio said calmly, but seriously. "There aren't only police friendly people here."

"Oh, okay. Does that mean, I shouldn't tell anyone?"

He liked the girl; she was smart. "If you wouldn't mind…"

"Are you something like a secret agent?" Amber asked briskly, if still playfully. She had never experienced something like this before, but found it interesting.

Laughingly Horatio shook his head. "With this hair? No. I'm a CSI. Therefore I have a lot of contact with criminals and I don't want them to vent on my son's spleen. It's that easy."

The girl nodded. "I won't say a thing."

Mindfully, Elijah had followed the conversation and was relieved. "Thank you, Amber. This means a lot to me."

"You're very welcome," she smiled and hugged him.

Satisfied, Horatio sat back and spooned his ice. His life was perfect at the moment. His son was happily taken, the girl was very nice and he himself had a wonderful woman by his side. It couldn't get any better.

_**tbc**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Today was their two-month anniversary and an exhibition in the Frost Art Museum had aroused both Horatio and Calleigh's interest. Therefore, the two hadn't had considered for long, but had driven to the museum after dinner and had visited the American Civil War exhibition. Now, almost 3 hours later, they stepped out into the stuffy night Miami's and set out for Horatio's car.

"You know, its one thing to learn it in history classes and read about it in books, but another seeing it in a museum, being close to the samples," Horatio said and took Calleigh's hand in his.

Calleigh highly agreed. "True. It's clearer and you can project your thoughts into the events," she answered and smiled when their hands touched. The last two months had been wonderful. Most of all, because she had liked Horatio for quite some time. In fact since they first met. But she'd never considered it possible that their working relationship would go deeper. Sometimes she couldn't quite believe it though and every now and then she caught herself thinking that it was just a dream. But if even if it was just a dream, she certainly didn't want to wake up again. Because with Horatio as her partner, she had proverbially conquered her dreams. "The section about the guns was brilliant."

"I'm not surprised that you liked that one in particular," Horatio laughed. "But when you think about that fact of how many lives this war had cost it's pretty scary, even though it was for a good reason," he then said a bit more serious. His good mood stayed nevertheless. "What's surprising me is that time gone by so much faster than in any history class. It felt like…a few minutes, but it's almost midnight. Astonishing."

"If you're interested in something, time goes by quickly. It's the same with the lab," she replied. Meanwhile they had reached the car. Being the gentleman he was, Horatio had taken the duty of driving them again. If it had something to do with the fact, that he was driving the Hummer, she couldn't say for sure. "I had a nice time. Thanks for the invitation."

"I thought we should do something special tonight, since it's our small anniversary," Horatio smiled at her lovingly and kissed the back of her hand, before he opened the door for her. "And I'm happy that you had as a good time as I did…" They talked the same language and Horatio liked that a lot. He had wished for such a woman for a long time after all. They had the same interests, they knew what they went through every day thanks to the job and they even shared the same sense humor, which was also very important to him.

"I did, yes. Hopefully, I haven't held you up at the guns. Sometimes I can be really…oh well," she gave him her best southern smile and fluttered her eyelashes, "…like a child."

"Don't worry, I like that. If someone has a hobby and merges in it…he shouldn't feel ashamed for that," Horatio shook his head and helped her into the car. Then he closed the door and walked around and climbed into the driver's seat. "Besides I found it interesting, too. We're dealing with guns every day, but it's a different category."

"Oh yes," she nodded and had to pay attention of not going into raptures again. "I think we need a different subject, or it will get dangerous."

"I'm used to danger," her replied cheekily and winked at her. Relaxed, he started the engine and drove out of the parking lot. He didn't even intend to ask her the special 'my home or yours?' question, since he wasn't that type of guy. At least not in the early stages of a relationship. Later the question would have a whole different meaning. That's why he drove to Calleigh's condo right away.

***

About 15 minutes later, he stopped the car in front of the small apartment building, where Calleigh lived and killed the engine. Being a real gentleman, he saw her to the door and grabbed both of her hands when they stopped. Gently, he stroked the back of her hands with his thumb and smiled. "Here we are…," he said quietly and didn't want to part from her just yet.

"Yeah," Cal confirmed the obvious and searched for her keys. After finding them, she opened the door, but didn't enter. Instead she leaned against the doorframe and looked at Horatio. "What about a coffee?"

Surprised about this offer, Horatio needed a moment before answering. Until now, she had never invited him inside and this was quite a big step in their relationship. However one he had been waiting for. "I'd love to," he nodded and motioned her to take the lead. He couldn't help but grin when she turned her back to him. Who knew what this night had in store for them.

***

Relaxed, Calleigh settled back on her couch. The evening had been great so far and she enjoyed every moment she could spend with Horatio alone. He was so different from work. In jeans and shirt he looked as good as in a suit, but his demeanor was more relaxed and cheekier. It was just before 1 by now and it didn't feel like that at all, since they had talked so much while drinking coffee. Just like now. "Oh well, and then there was the question about my career aspiration and I knew what I wanted to do. But my mom and dad had something different in mind…," she smiled when she thought about her youth. "But I had my way."

"I can imagine that parents aren't excited about such a job. It's a risky one after all," Horatio said and crossed his legs on her couch. If Elijah would choose this career, he wouldn't be so happy about it too. "But I bet that they're very proud of you now and rightly," he praised her and relished the feeling of getting to know her.

She put down her cup, after drinking the last sip. "That's true and I can't deny that, but viewed in this light, nothing in life is without a risk. At least that's the way I see it. And why should I make my job conditional on just that? That wasn't correct and today…almost 7 years later, I have no regrets." Thanks to her decision she had met Horatio and that was the best thing that ever happened in her life.

"I admire your attitude, Cal. I really do. It shows courage, especially as a woman, to fight your way in a men's world and you did it with flying colors. I'm very happy to call you one of my team members…not just since the last two months," he laughed softly. "Though it got stronger."

"Our team is something special anyway…I experienced it rarely, that there is such a big solidarity, almost family like. And this depends a great deal on who's the leader," she returned the praise. Her look fell on his likewise empty cup. "Do you want another coffee?" She asked, since she knew that he drank the brown liquid like others drank spring water or in Tim's case tea.

"Yes, please. I just hope that it's decaffeinated…or when I think about it, I wouldn't mind some more caffeine, so we can sit here for a longer time," he replied honestly. "And thank you for the compliment. I always try, that you don't feel like colleagues, but friends. Certainly, you can't constrain it, but you can set the course…"

"I have to pass," Cal replied and poured him another cup. "I had enough coffee for today. If I drink more, you will see me again like a hummingbird on six cups of coffee," she laughed when she thought about the case, where she had inhaled coke involuntarily. It had been embarrassing at that time, but she could laugh about it by now.

"A day I love remembering," Horatio grinned broadly. "You have been…I don't even know how to say, but when you sat there…I think that was the moment where it made..click," he admitted sheepishly and took a sip of his coffee to hide behind the cup. She had been so adorable, even though he had felt bad for her.

Even though she was amused, a part of it was faked, since she wanted to hide her own surprise about this statement. Did that mean, that Horatio had been in love with her for over a year and a half? Apparently she wasn't such a good actress, because Horatio furrowed his brows while looking at her. Therefore she honestly said. "I didn't know that."

"This was my intention…," Horatio shrugged. "I never believed that you could be interested in someone like me and so…I was content with being your boss, your…friend…whatever you want to call it." At least until Alexx and his son had pushed him.

"It's so easy to be mistaken. Because you're…nice," she laughed.

"Nice?" Horatio repeated amused. "Mhm, then it seems to me, that I like you more than you like me."

She liked that game. "Oh well, maybe a little bit more than just nice. I have to admit that."

"Mhm, I guess I still like you more Miss Duquesne," he pretended to be certain of success and put his cup on the couch table.

"Yeah? Now I'm curious", she leaned towards him.

"You'd better be," he whispered and took her movements towards him as a Yes. Gently, his lips met her and his hands wandered to her neck and started to massage it.

With eyes closed, she sucked on his lips, before deepening the kiss. She already was on cloud nine, due to Horatio's kissing techniques.

He had imagined it often, but reality was so much better. He'd love nothing better than to continue the kiss forever, but the lack of oxygen told him otherwise. "This was…_nice_," he gasped and only said that to tease her. Fantastic would have been the correct word to describe the kiss.

As an answer she boxed his shoulder. "Why, thank you." Now it was her turn to take the initiative and edged closer.

He was about to say something, when he was interrupted by her in the best way he could ever think of. Yes, that's what he liked. Calleigh wasn't shy and showed him what she wanted. He loved that at a woman, even though he loved everything about Cal, because he loved her.

"What do you think about," she started seductively, "waffles for breakfast?"

There could be only one answer. "I love waffles for breakfast."

_**tbc**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The annual light festival in the park was a highlight for Horatio. It was wonderful to look at, when thousands of candles were illuminating the park, making it glow. He looked forward to this special day every year and this time he could share it with a woman by his side, which made it even better. Fortunately, the park wasn't far away from his house, so they had decided to go for a walk and ditch Calleigh's car. They had run across many people already, who either left the park or entered it and once they had entered the park, it had been alive with visitors. The good thing was that no matter how many people were there, the park never seemed to be overcrowded. So they still had some sense of privacy, instead of stepping on each other's shoes. "This looks fantastic, right?" Horatio asked and pointed to the lampions which looked like they were floating in the air.

Being totally mesmerized by the spectacle, Cal needed a moment to answer him. "Yes, it's beautiful", she then said quietly. "This would look fantastic in someone's own garden." At least in her own. If Horatio could call himself an owner of a garden, she didn't know, since she had never seen his house from the inside. For some reason he had been the chauffeur on all of their dates, which all had been unfailingly in the city. The fact that she was calling the shots tonight, was the reason that she had been adamant that she would drive by herself. It would have been nonsense, if he drove to her apartment and then back to his, since the park was only a few meters away. Now she was closer to his home than she had been in the 3 months of their relationship and she bet they would get inside his house today.

"I think so, too. You can easily use the lampions for that and if you have a pond, even better," Horatio agreed. "I like those small ships."

Apparently he wasn't the only one who liked them, but several younger children too who were looking at the tea lights in wonder.

"We're not alone," he smiled and still remembered the way Elijah had been fascinated with them. Nowadays he couldn't win his son's attention with some tea lights, but the memory stayed.

"Water and fire have always fascinated people," she grinned lightly and squeezed his hand.

"Very true, you just have to watch out that they don't come to close," he said and kissed her hand. "Or you can fish them out of the pond," he continued amused, though still serious. People had drowned in puddles, so you had to keep an eye on your kids. "Have you been here before?"

"Yes, but not at this time of day. I didn't know about this festival. But I'm quite sure that I'm going to visit it again next year. Everything fits here, the place, the scenery, the atmosphere…," she listed and let her eyes wander.

"That would make me happy," Horatio smiled, hoping of course, that she would go with him. At a bifurcation, he took the left path. He knew where it led to and he really wanted to show it Calleigh. "It's a good thing that you can see so many families here…even though it's already a bit late." But since it was a Saturday he didn't mind. "There aren't many recreation offers here… for families I mean."

The sudden change of subjects surprised her a bit. "I can't judge that, since I've never been in this situation," she replied slowly.

He had been. "Oh well, you just have to look around. A playground here and there, a park perhaps, but that's it. There could be a lot more in my eyes," he shrugged. "Maybe you will be in this situation someday," he grinned.

Someone was a bit too fast. "Who knows," she answered him elusively and found it a bit weird where this conversation was leading to.

Horatio noticed that and chided himself for that. "I'm sorry Cal, I didn't mean it like that," he apologized immediately and stayed silent. He was worried about her reaction. He badly wanted to tell her about his son. They've been a couple for 3 months now and since that night after the museum, he was absolutely sure of the fact, that she was the right one for him. That night, they had shared their hearts, their souls and those three little words. Horatio hadn't said those words for ages. Since he already knew Calleigh for more than two years, he was sure that he could tell her about Elijah. It just wasn't that easy after so many years.

She had noticed his uncertainty and corrected herself. "No, no. You don't have to apologize. It's just…the idea of a family is a bit too early. Basically, I wish for a house with a white picket fence and kids," she smiled softly, "like every woman does. But after three months…," she shrugged. She didn't like telling him, but she was known for her straight-line attitude and honest words. "I think we should start this slow." She had had bad experiences in her past and now to that effect she was a bit more cautious.

"I didn't mean that we have to start tonight and that we will be married tomorrow," Horatio laughed to loosen the situation. "Don't worry, that's a little bit too early for me. But I'm glad that you aren't against the thought sometime in the future," he nodded and kissed her forehead softly. Otherwise there would have been problems. If Calleigh didn't want any kids and wasn't interested in them, there would have been problems with Elijah, even though the boy wasn't a child any longer.

"I come from a big family, I'm used to kids and I love them a lot," she explained. "There's nothing better than having my own kids." And the chances to have them with Horatio were good. "I just want to be sure, that I've found the right guy." She stretched herself in order to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Someone like you."

Sheepishly, Horatio looked down and was glad that it was dark, so no one could see his pink cheeks. "This…is good to know Cal, because this goes both ways." If this wasn't a reason to tell her, Horatio had no idea what would be one. He had to be honest with her, because the longer he waited, the more complicated it would be. And since she had shown him so much trust, it was his time to give it back to her. Most of all because Elijah was bugging him to meet Calleigh. Boys.

"Then it's agreed," she poked his side and thanks to her height she found the perfect position to tickle him.

"It is," he nodded and tried to escape her. "Stop it…it tickles," he laughed and was able to stop her briefly, but not long. "You're mean."

"Well you'd better get used to it, Mister," she giggled and didn't feel like stopping.

"I wouldn't have guessed you have that in you…such a mean side," he poked his tongue out at her and gave her a tight squeeze. Panting he gasped for air and inhaled the scent of her hair. "Come with me today, Cal," he said quietly and waited eagerly for an answer. There was no going back now.

Without hesitating she answered him. "With pleasure." It didn't matter that her answer had come far too quickly. She had already said it. She burst with curiosity and she wouldn't have waited any longer for this invitation.

Happily, he looked down at her and gave a long kiss as an answer. It would go well, he was sure.

***

"Here we are, my cozy little home," Horatio said mischievously and opened the front door. "Feel free..," he offered her and let her in. "Do you want me to hang up your cardigan?" he asked her politely and turned on the light in the hallway.

"Yes, please," she nodded and took it off. Being a CSI, she tried to absorb the ambiance and followed him. "It's very nice."

"Thank you. I'm not here as much as I want to, but that means nothing." In the living-room, he turned on the lights too and pointed to a white leather couch. "Have a seat, please. Do you want something to drink? Wine? Tea? Coffee? Water?"

"Wine sounds appealing, but since I have to drive, I'll take the water, thanks." Before she sat down, she let her eyes roam over the room. The heavy dark wooden furniture in a Spanish style was kind of typical for Miami and formed a nice contrast to the other furniture, which looked more filigreed. "Does this lead to the garden?" She pointed to the patio door.

"Right. It's not that big, but it's enough for a small BBQ," he nodded. _"Or for a little boy who wants play football with his Dad,"_ he added in his mind and hugged Calleigh from behind. "You sure, you want to go home tonight?" he asked and started to nibble her neck. "Because I don't plan on letting you go again, but looking forward to a…long night." He knew how Cal would interpret it and that was more than okay. That he meant something else, namely that they had a lot to talk about, was also perfectly clear.

"You're always good for a surprise, Mr. Caine," she pulled his chain lovingly and leaned into his embrace. It couldn't get any better. It took a moment till they moved again. "If I'm asked that nicely, I think I will…take the wine after all."

Tenderly he kissed her hair and let go of her. "A very good choice, Miss Duquesne. I'll be right back," he bowed and hurried into the kitchen with "make yourself at home." There he went in search for the wine and its glasses.

Of course she followed his request and strolled around, the second he had left the room. She was impressed by the numerous books in the shelves and started to read the titles. Step by step, she carefully walked backwards and stopped abruptly, when she noticed two framed pictures. She pondered a bit and then took one carefully in her hand, to have a better look at it. She could see a young woman, in her early thirties she guessed and blond boy, who couldn't be older than 5, who was grinning broadly into the camera. Based on the clothes both wore, Calleigh could say that the photo was a bit older. She just wondered about their identities. After she had put back the photo, she took the second one. Once again she could see the same boy, but this time he wore a baseball uniform and in the back she could see a Christmas tree. It was easy to tell that the clothes looked new and the boy was smiling. Calleigh stared at it for a long time and only put it back when she heard Horatio coming back and walked to her boyfriend.

Grinning he had noticed that Calleigh hadn't sat down. He hadn't thought any different of her. She was a CSI after all and very good one too. "I hope red wine is okay with you, the white one wasn't cold enough," he greeted her halfway.

She nodded. "Yes, I like red wine." Still she couldn't get the image of that boy out of her head, because he was reminding her of someone. When she thought about it, he looked a bit like Horatio. _"Maybe it's some relative,"_ she tried to find a conclusion on her own and was brought back into the here and now by Horatio's voice. "Pardon?" she asked embarrassed, since she hadn't listened.

"I've asked if you wanted to sit down," Horatio repeated his question and followed his own request. "Is everything okay, Cal?" She had never been so distracted at her home, at least when they had just talked. "I can give you the grand tour later, if you want to," he smirked.

She nodded hesitantly. "I was lost in thought, I'm sorry." Then she sat down next to him and stick a strand behind her ear while she made herself comfortable. "I wouldn't mind a tour. I'm just like every other woman, you know, I love snooping around."

"So does that mean I have to hide all my secret stuff then?" he chided her and took a sip of his wine. "But the cards are stacking against me. You're a CSI and supposed to find everything." This could be a disadvantage when it came to presents. "But you should get your tour later, I already know the goal."

Playfully she lifted her brow. "Really?"

"Of course. You'd be surprised about my wonderful office." Relaxed he leaned back and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. Now he just needed to find the right moment to let her into his secret.

From experience Calleigh knew what imp Horatio was inside and therefore she knew that he certainly hadn't meant his office. "If you say so," she said casually and played with the buttons of his shirt.

"Absolutely," Horatio nodded and enjoyed her playfulness immensely. And even though he wanted to continue this, he had to talk with her. What they would do afterwards was something entirely different and Horatio was already looking forward to it. "Mhm, Cal..," he sighed when she opened the top buttons. "There's something…"

"It's a little bit too late for a back-paddle," she murmured seductively and found the idea of spending the night at his more and more alluring. She knew about his certain secret qualities after all.

Oh that was just mean. He wanted to continue this, since he knew what was waiting for him. But then again he had to tell her the plain truth. Something he could also do tomorrow. Hmm. "Back-paddle?" he asked amused and chuckled when she kissed his neck. "Never.." Not since he could call her his. "This feels good," he murmured and bit his lip. "Nevertheless Cal," he swallowed hard. "There's something I really need to tell you and afterwards…we have plenty of time for other things, okay?"

She got an uneasy feeling and let go of him. The irritation was written in her face, because her boyfriend didn't look as adventurous as he had before. "Horatio?"

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad," he reassured her immediately and took a deep breath. "Uhm, there's something you don't know about me," he started and took a quick glance towards the pictures behind her. "Ha-Have you seen the pictures?" Oh how he hated this stuttering.

Her doubts stayed the same. "Oookay?" She didn't like the stuttering too and it told her that Horatio was very nervous.

"Have you had a look at them?" he asked her and was about to stand up in case she hadn't. This would be easier.

"Yeah I did. What about them?"

"O-okay." And she didn't ask him about the people? That surprised him. "These are two very important persons in my life. Uhm…actually it should be easier for me to say that..," he sighed and rubbed his neck.

Her heartbeat increased and she blinked at him, when she tried to find an association between his words and the pictures. She looked over her shoulder to the shelves and then back to him. "Who's that?" she asked.

"The persons on the pictures are…my ex-wife Samantha and the little blonde boy is Elijah…my son." Tensed he held his breath and waited for a reaction. "He..he turns 16 in a few weeks", he smiled proudly.

At first she thought that he was joking and grinned, but then she realized that he was serious about it. That was a bit thick! She would have never expected that from him. Emotionless she starred at him. "You should start breathing again before you turn blue," she said and couldn't believe it. He had kept that back. Not only during their relationship, but the whole time they knew each other. With a shake of head she stood up and departed from him. This was a slap in her face and she couldn't get over it that easy. With crossed arms she positioned herself behind the couch and put some distance between them. "I can't believe it."

Surprised, but not hurt, Horatio got up too. "I know that this quite a surprise, Cal…and we can talk about everything. If you have questions, I'll answer them..," he offered her immediately. "I just needed some time to tell you. You mean a lot to me, Cal..," he said softly and laid a hand on her arm.

Disgustedly she swept away his hand. "Oh I realized how much I mean to you just now. Two years! We know each other for two years now and only after you were in bed with me, you remembered that you have an ex-wife and a son?!" She couldn't understand that.

That she swept his hand away did hurt. "It wasn't like that, Cal, you gotta believe me. Sweetheart, please…just sit down and I will explain it to you. I need time till I trust someone completely…"

"Oh come one, Horatio! You do not believe this yourself, are you?" she snorted. "You need some time to trust someone? Am Ithat untrustworthy??"

"N-no, I didn't mean it like that. I trust you." He rolled his eyes about himself. "I love you Cal and therefore it's important to me, that you know about Elijah. He's my son and part of my life."

"Good for you," she replied toneless and took a deep breath. Words couldn't explain of how hurt and used she felt at this moment. Knowing that Horatio didn't find her trustworthy was the worst feeling of all. "I think I should go," she said and turned away from him.

"But…but.." This was not the way he had planned it. "Cal, please stay. We can talk about everything," he started again and walked to her. "Sweetheart, please..," he said quietly. "I know I should have told you earlier, but I have my reasons."

She struck out automatically when he approached her and intended to stop her from going. Split seconds later she felt her hand burning from the force of the slap in his face. _"Hopefully it hurts you even more,"_ she thought to herself. "Did you call her like that, too?! Hm? Stop calling me like that, if you don't mean it honestly!" She let her fury override her reason. "You can stick your reasons where the sun doesn't shine, Mister. I don't want to hear them. Not anymore." She had nothing more to say and stormed to the front door.

Shocked, Horatio held his burning cheek and gazed after her in disbelief. When he heard the door being shut with a loud bang, he flinched and leaned against the couch. His small world just crushed and when he heard the sound of Calleigh's car, he knew that she had ended their relationship. Deeply hurt he walked into the kitchen to grab a cool pack. This was so not the way he had planned it. Of course, he had reckoned that Calleigh wouldn't fall around his neck, but twisting it? He hadn't thought of that. Miserably he snuffled and made his way to bed. Calleigh, he was sure, wouldn't come back to him.

Being in a complete turmoil, Calleigh sat behind her Jeep's steering wheel and wiped away the tears that were falling constantly. Earlier in the house she hadn't wanted to show Horatio how much his actions and words had hurt her. But now, alone, she couldn't hold in any longer. Angrily she hit the steering wheel, while she was waiting on a red light. "This schmuck! How could I be so stupid?! He had played with me all those years, flirted with me and I…I slept with him!" She felt rough and was furious. "I'm such an idiot. He's an idiot!" She just wanted to go home now, crawl into her bed and leave this new disappointment behind.

_**tbc**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

When Samantha stopped her car at the roadside, Eli couldn't wait to get out of the car but nevertheless looked out for a strange one in his father's driveway. But since all he could see was the golden hummer, his grin got even wider. "The air is clear, Mom!" he announced and sat nervously on his seat, the door handle already in his hand.

"Be civil and don't overdo it, okay?" she smiled back and was really happy that Horatio had granted the privileges of doing the driving lessons with Eli.

"Who me?" Eli said and got out of the car. "Thanks for the ride, Mom. I'll call you later…or drive back home at my own."

The blond woman behind the steering wheel could only role her eyes. Once her son had set his mind on something, there was no way of stopping him. _"Just like his father,"_ she thought to herself, waved at Junior and resisted the urge to tell him once again to be careful. Horatio would use this phrase more than once anyway and so she held herself back. "Have fun!"

Elijah was all smiles. Today would be awesome. "Thanks. See you!" After his mother drove away and Elijah had made his way to the front door, he pulled out his keys, opened the door and let it shut with the usual bang. His father was alone, so it didn't matter at all, besides it was some kind of a tradition. Undeterred he walked to the living room, without discarding his baseball cap and looked around in search of his father. It was after 11 a.m. after all and he knew that Horatio had been up since 9 a.m. This was also a tradition in the Caines' household. "Dad?"

Startled, Horatio looked up from his book when he heard the front door. Did Calleigh come back? But she didn't have a key, so how should she open the door? And he could probably wait for that a long time. His cheek still hurt and he wasn't well rested since he couldn't sleep the night before. Actually, he shouldn't have lay in the bed alone, like now, but he still had to – with a hurting cheek. There weren't that many people who could be downstairs and his main suspect was his son. Horatio just didn't know why he was here. He put down his book onto the untouched side of his bed and slowly got up. He hadn't bothered to dress up, so he was just wearing some jogging pants and an old t-shirt. There was no one who he should dress up for anyway. "I'm upstairs," he called, when he exited his bedroom and stomped down the stairs.

Elijah was puzzled to see his father in casual wear; they had something planned after all. Of course he hadn't thought of a suit, but not like this. This didn't fit to him at all. "Ready?" he asked therefore and stayed at the landing.

Equally puzzled, Horatio looked at his son. "Ready? What for?" he asked and had no idea what the boy was talking about.

"Uhm, driving-lessons?" the boy scratched his head. "You and me?"

Horatio closed his eyes. He had forgotten about that. "God, yes. I'm sorry…it just slipped," he apologized and shook his head. "It's that late already?" he asked, though it was quite needless, since Elijah was standing in front of him. "Do you want something to drink?" Cause he was thirsty.

"You forgot our date?" Elijah took a step away. "Who are you and where's my father?"

"Funny," Horatio replied, but wasn't in the mood for fun. "I…well it just slipped.." He couldn't be more than sorry for it and even though Elijah hadn't answered his question, he made his way to the kitchen.

This was a new one to him and Elijah needed a second to think about it. "Is everything alright? Are you sick?" he asked his Dad and followed him, while his hopes dropped. It would be annoying, but when his Dad wasn't feeling good, he could understand it. Nevertheless the disappointment in his voice was apparent. "Well then…then we'll do it another day…"

Horatio had to admit that he wasn't in the mood for driving, but he didn't want to hurt his son with his bad mood. It's wasn't the boy's fault, so he shouldn't get punished for it. "No, no. It's okay. I'm not sick, I just forgot it. I just drink something and then I'll change, okay?"

Relieved the boy smiled. "Great!" Abruptly his mood had changed. "This is going to be cool. I even brought my sunglasses with me." With that, he grabbed them from his collar and put it on. Then he turned his baseball cap, so the shield pointed to the back. "What do you think of it?" To get the same model his father wore, he had to save a lot of money, but he liked his own one anyway.

"Nice, but you won't wear it with the cap." He looked like people he had arrested in the past. Seemingly, his son hasn't inherited his sense of fashion. Or it was the boy's age. Without thinking he grabbed the cap. "Oh look at that, there's hair. Didn't think it would grow in constant darkness."

"Hey," enraged he tried to his cap back, but was too slow. "Why not, Dad? It looks good together."

"Yes, on some Hip Hop Rapper probably, who are sitting in my interrogation room," Horatio started and took a sip of his water, "but not on you. Besides even they take sunglasses _and_ cap off."

Sullen, he ran his hand through his hair till it stuck out in every direction. "If you think so," he said defeated and knew better than to have a discussion about fashion with his father. "May I have it back?" he asked and meant his cap. Not wanting to risk an argument with Horatio, he took off his sunglasses.

"Only if you wear it correctly, then yes," Horatio nodded and gave it back. "Did Mom bring you?"

Nodding he grabbed his cap, but didn't put it on. "Yes she did. She said hi, by the way," he grinned, because he had forgotten about that.

"Thanks. Should I give you a lift home? Or would you rather drive yourself?" he asked and made his way back to the hall. "Or to Amber?" he smirked to himself.

Immediately, there was a small on Elijah's face. "That's what I told Mom…I mean that I'll drive home alone!" It was like his father read his thoughts. "I'd like that. Amber isn't at home today, so there's no need to go there." Finally things were getting started and he prepared himself for that by putting on his cap again. "Is that okay? I mean, do you have plans?" He didn't know if Horatio had other things to do, like having a date with Calleigh. It was weekend after all.

Shortly, Horatio stopped but then continued walking. "No…I don't have any plans..," he shook his head. "I'm available…like always."

"What? No plans?" he pressed on, he must have been misheard. "It's a weekend…"

"True. If you count reading under plans, then I have some. If not, then…not," he rolled his eyes. "You know… you need someone to share your plans."

Before Eli could reply something, Horatio had reached the stairs. Something was wrong here. His father had forgotten their appointment, stood there dressed up with nowhere to go, had a bad mood and didn't seem overly excited by the fact that Elijah was here. In other words, Horatio had made a complete turnaround. But Elijah didn't know why and that blurred the atmosphere. Maybe the driving-lessons would help against it.

Upstairs in the bedroom, Horatio slipped into some jeans and a green polo shirt. With his son already looking like a rapper, he didn't have to do the same. Otherwise they'd be stopped by the police and this was something he didn't need. Therefore they wouldn't drive with the Hummer, but the GMC. "I hope you have your sign with you," he called through the house. "The keys from the GMC are in my leather jacket."

"Of course I do," the boy smiled. As if he would forget the most important thing. To be on the safe side, he searched in his pockets. "Yep, it's here," he mumbled to himself before he started to listen attentively. _"GMC?"_ There was something wrong. "GMC, Dad?" he called.

"Why, yes," Horatio replied. "I think the Hummer needs a break…" Plus he wasn't so sure of letting a beginner driving with it. He was the boss of course, but it wasn't his own car. "The GMC isn't that different," he explained while walking down the stairs. "You got everything?"

Oh great, he had already assumed that there was a rub in it. Sighing he walked to the coat rack. The GMC was nice, but not as nice as the Hummer. But he didn't want to challenge his luck, since his Dad wasn't in the best mood already. The leather jacket was found quickly and with it something else. Before he turned around, he touched his finding to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. Once again he looked at the cardigan and was pretty sure that he had never seen it before. "Who does it belong to?" he asked curiously, though he could think of one person.

"Hm?" Horatio looked up from lacing his shoes. "Who belongs to…oh…" Sighing he straightened himself and starred on the cardigan. "It's…it's Calleigh's. I'm going to…give it back to her tomorrow," he answered him crestfallen, because he realized that it would be safer giving it to Alexx, so he would avoid another slap.

The prompt change of mood didn't get unnoticed by Elijah. He looked at his Dad who was standing there like a picture of misery, then back to the cardigan and once again back to his father. It became more and more obvious that something must have happened. "Mhm, okay," he murmured, but couldn't help himself. "It's better I don't ask what's going on, hm?"

He got a shrug as a response. "Fundamentally…you'll find out anyway. Last night… Calleigh decided the relationship isn't worth continuing," he said quietly.

With a jerk he looked at Horatio. "What?? Why??"

Horatio wasn't entirely sure about that. There could be a lot of reasons. "It wasn't meant to be. And she ended it yesterday."

He hadn't bargained for that. But it explained his father's wonderful mood. Gloomily he looked at him. "What now?"

"Nothing. She made it clear to me that she's fed up with me." Absently he stroked his cheek. "I don't think you can change that again."

"But why?" They had gotten along so well. This really was a surprise.

"I…I don't know. We talked yesterday and then it just went crazy," he sighed. "The end of the story was her slamming the door."

It didn't make a lot of sense. "I don't understand, did you," he stopped and thought about it, "Did you have a fight?"

"Well, normally you need two for a fight…but yeah, I think you could say so," Horatio nodded. "But I'm not sure what was the fight about," he had to admit.

This got more and more obscure and with 15 years he didn't have lot wisdom on hand. Depressed he looked down. This wasn't an easy situation for him. He had wished for his dad to find the perfect woman. "I…don't know what to say, I'm sorry Dad. It looked so good…"

"No need to be sorry, Eli. Sometimes, love isn't enough…" Horatio replied quietly. Though right now he wasn't sure of her so called love for him. Two days ago he had been sure of it, but now?

"Is it…is it because of me?" Maybe Calleigh had been told about him and therefore she had had broke up with his dad.

"No! No, it has nothing to with you, Elijah. It has _never_ something to with you, okay?" The thought alone broke his heart into pieces. "You're never the reason. Never," he repeated insistently.

Elijah wasn't so sure about it, but he believed his dad. He didn't like what he saw, since he was used to a whole different demeanor. Slowly he pulled the cap from his head. "We…don't have to drive today, Dad. We can…just sit around in the garden," he offered him.

"The times doesn't turn back from that, son. I promised you that we're driving today and we'll do that, okay?" he asked rhetorically. "And you know what? We take the Hummer and when they stop us, you put on your rapper costume," he laughed a bit and opened a drawer to get the keys. "However we will first drive on a deserted parking area, so you get a feeling for the car."

Elijah gave him a faint smile and made a step towards Horatio. Suddenly he opened his arms and hugged his father. Not because Horatio had mentioned the Hummer. No. Eli wanted to be there for him, like his dad was for him. "Are you sure?" he grinned and kept his arms around him.

No matter how old Elijah would be, a hug was always the best sign for Horatio, that he did something good. "Mhm, you'd better be careful, before I change my mind," he winked at him. "I already know the perfect place, there you can sit behind the steering wheel and later on we can gab something to eat, if you're hungry that is." Which was highly possible.

"Sounds good, Dad," Elijah nodded and made a step back, so Horatio could open the door. "Ready?"

"If you have everything you need, Junior," Horatio opened the door and yield to him. Just because Calleigh had ended their relationship, he shouldn't go stale. Even if he was deeply hurt by her reaction. At the moment he could push it to the back of his mind, thanks to his son and he wanted to have a good time. What would happen in the evening was a different story.

_**Tbc**_

_**A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. A special thanks goes to my anonymous reviewer, since I can't thank them via a PM. Just know, that it makes me very happy, that you're taking your time to write a review. **_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Frowning, Dr. Alexx Woods, pathologist of the Miami Dade Crime Lab, stood in front of the Trace Lab and looked up the stairs which led into Horatio's office. She had known this man for over 15 years now, but she had never seen him acting like this before and that scared her. His current condition gave her a reason for concern. He seemed to be depressed, absentminded and doleful. Normally she would ask him of what was aggrieving him, but a case had ruined her plans. Since Tim had also been on this assignment, she couldn't ask him as Horatio's best friend, too. So there was just one other person left and she immediately went into search for her. She found her in the ballistic lab, where she seemed to be absorbed in her work. Careful of not to scare her, she approached her from the side and smiled at her. "Hi."

"Hello," Calleigh replied and occupied herself with the bullets. They didn't want to match and that stick in her craw. Nothing, really nothing wanted to work today. At first she had wanted to sit alone in the break room and who had appeared? Eric Delko, who needed to talk about his newest date. Then she had just left the room and Tim had crossed her way and had told her about his latest case, where he had had dealt with ants. And to save the best for the last, she had needed to talk with Horatio, who had given her her cardigan back. In her rush she had forgotten it at his house and that rankled her the most. The best thing would be to throw it into the litter, so she wouldn't be reminded of his lies.

This behavior was also really weird, because normally the petite southern lady always had a smile on her face. The fact that she was so short with her, approved Alexx' assumption that something was seriously wrong here. "A lot to do?" she asked casually, to get some time to probe the situation.

"I'm afraid so", Cal replied short and crisp. _"I'm afraid it's not enough,"_ she thought to herself and looked up from her microscope. "What can I do for you, Alexx? Do you have something for me?"

"Actually I wanted to ask you the same. Is there something new about the Anderson case?" There were only a few cases Alexx asked about the police investigations, because her work had the least amount on a case. She just provided the basics and her colleagues in the lab did the rest.

"No. Sadly, but no," Cal sighed and shook her head. "These are the bullets for the comparison, but they don't match. It seems that we have the wrong gun." Another reason why this day was horrible. "Maybe we should go back to the scene, let's see what the boss says." She probably should send Eric or Tim to him, so she wouldn't have to talk to him.

The title puzzled Alexx. "Sweetie, what's going on?" she asked worried, since she had noticed the dismissive behavior.

"Nothing's going on, Alexx. What should be going on with me?" _"Except of the fact that my ex-boyfriend is a liar."_ She was doing fine. "I'm fine."

Alexx wasn't impressed by that. Slowly she drew nearer and rested a hand on Calleigh's shoulder. She gave her a silent glance and hoped that Calleigh would stop behaving like this. "But I can see that you aren't. Do you want to talk about it?" she asked her softly.

"There's no point in talking about it, Alexx. It's already settled." She should have known better. No man was as perfect as Horatio appeared from the outside. "Everything is in order, don't worry."

"Does it have to do with Horatio?" she dared to ask, because the assumption suggested itself.

Of course not. "Maybe…," she shrugged. "I got surprised to mark the occasion on Saturday…or let's better said caught on the hop."

"There was your date, right?"

"Yes. We've been in a park nearby his house; there had been a light festival. It was fantastic…and then…we went to him. It was the first time I've ever been there and he surprised me," she smiled, though it wasn't an honest smile.

"Surprised? In what way?" Alexx went into it and was glad that Calleigh was willing to talk about it. "You know that nothing we talk about will leave this room sweetie, right?"

"Yes, I know," she affirmed and thought hard about how she could tell her. "He had told me about a certain person…Elijah." Still she couldn't understand why he had kept that to himself instead of sharing it with her and it still disappointed her.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Alexx smiled broadly. So this couldn't be the reason. "Eli is such a good boy, don't you think?" she went into raptures.

"You know him?" Calleigh asked nonplussed. So he could trust Alexx, but not the woman he loved, huh? That was coming strong. Love…you must be joking, this was nothing more than idle talk.

Surprised, Alexx looked at her. "Sweetie, I've known Elijah since his birth. It seems to me like it was yesterday when Horatio had called me in the middle of the night. He had been so excited, he couldn't even talk."

"Ah. Nice." Well she knew that. When it was about his son, he was never able to say something.

"Right. And the fact that he told you about him…is so special. It means that he trusts you wholeheartedly," she nodded in conviction, even though she didn't like the hide-and-seek most of the time.

"And what makes you say that?" Cal asked half-heartedly.

Alexx began to wonder. "Because no one else knows about Elijah…not even the team. Didn't he explain that to you?" This was the crux of the matter. "That's why it's so great that he let you in."

"That's what I thought…about the team I mean," Calleigh nodded and sat down on her stool. "We didn't…talk so much about it.."

"Well, that surprises me. Horatio is so proud of the boy, normally you have to stop him or he talks without interruption. And that means something," she winked at her.

"He didn't have the chance of talking about…his son." It was still difficult to use this appellation in combination with Horatio's name. "Because I broke up with him."

Alexx barely managed to stop her jaw drop the floor. "S-say again??"

"When he told me about Elijah…I broke up with him," Calleigh sighed and hung her head, so her long hair fell into her face.

"Good lord!" She shook her head in disbelieve and leaned against the edge of the table behind her. No wonder that Horatio moped. Now she had even more sympathy with him than she did before. "But why? Horatio is the best that could ever happen to you…"

"He lied to me, Alexx. We've known each other for two years we're…we'd been a couple for three months and he never breathed a word about his son. What do I make out of it? What tells me that? That he doesn't trust me." It was that simple. Hopefully. "It hurts to know that the man you love doesn't trust you."

Alexx bend forward. "I can only partially endorse his decision of keeping the boy hidden, but I respect it. Elijah's well-being is his main priority, there's nothing he wouldn't do for him. You of all people know that he has a lot of enemies. Looking at it that way, I can understand why he wants his son safe."

"But..," she started and sighed annoyed, "…why didn't he tell me right from the beginning? Why did he leave me in the dark? Didn't I show him, that he could trust me? I just don't understand."

Alexx sighed too. "He just didn't believe that something could develop between the both of you. He had fallen in love with you the day you two met, but he had hesitated to tell you about his feelings. And well…he had let you in after three months. In comparison to the two years where he had loved you from afar, it happened relative quickly." She didn't know how many times he had told her about his feelings for Calleigh and that's why she had been surprised and proud when he had told her that he had asked her out.

Dejected, Calleigh looked to her hands and fumbled around with them. "I was so angry of him…and jealous…of this other woman. He said that she and Elijah would be very important to him and…oh I don't know. He should have told me right from the beginning. On our first or second date."

Encouraging Alexx rubbed her shoulders. "He doesn't have an easy life. After the divorce…he had a few dates and acted just like you have suggested. But this way hadn't been successful. And now…he had waited, because he wanted be sure, that he wouldn't blow it…"

"…and it was me who blew it," Calleigh finished the sentence. "I can't believe he's a father, Alexx. I have ever fancied how he would be like one and now..I know and...what should I do?"

The answer came straight away. "Give him a second chance, sweetie. It probably wasn't the best way of how he approached it, but I know it cost him a great deal of effort to tell you about his secret. But the fact that he did…is worth so much more. He loves you Calleigh and he trusts you. Now it's your turn to trust him too."

"I don't believe that he gives _me _a second chance, Alexx. It wasn't a nice break up, it was painful," she pulled a face when she remembered that she had actually slapped her boss.

"I know that, I saw him," she answered. "A new start won't be easy, since both of your feelings got hurt. It had obviously hurt him that you left him with no chance to explain." You didn't need an expert to see that Horatio suffered from the break up. "But he's a forgiving man. Give him a chance to explain himself and listen to your heart. Because I know," she smiled and stroked her cheek, "that you still love him. It would be a shame to see that you two would stand in each other's way, because you would lose so much."

"I…I will think about it, Alexx. But I need some time. This knowledge has changed some things, you know? There are question that haven't been there before and yes…I will think about it," she nodded in the end.

"I can't ask you for more, sweetie. But I'm happy that you consider it." Once again she laid her hand on Calleigh's shoulder.

"Mhm," she murmured and stood up again. "Well I have to continue this," she said and gestured to her bullets. "Work helps me thinking," she smiled faintly.

Alexx understood. "You know my door is always open, when you have something on your mind."

"Thanks, Alexx. I guess we'd all be lost without you," Calleigh smirked.

She couldn't help but laugh at this thought. "I think so too." She gave Calleigh a hug and said goodbye. "Listen to your heart," she whispered before she left the room. Outside she needed a moment to gather her thoughts. She had played a matchmaker without Horatio's consent after all. "We could use a little help, you know?" she looked upward. With one last glance at the Ballistic Lab, she wandered to her kingdom.

Listen to your heart was easier said than done when you were confused and unsure. Because in fact everything and nothing had changed. Now Calleigh had to find out, if she could accept the knowledge or not. And this would take some time, because she didn't want to rush things.

_**Tbc**_

**Thank you all for your wonderful reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Okay and now carefully…I said carefully," Horatio instructed his driver and looked out of the side window to make sure the car wouldn't bump something.

"It's not the first time I've parked a car, Dad," Eli complained and did his best.

"Yes, but now you could bump my colleagues' car and that wouldn't look good…," Horatio answered him and was relieved that they were sitting in the GMC and not the Hummer. For one thing because it was less conspicuous and for another thing people would have thought that he was drunk.

"Mission accomplished," the boy said proudly and pulled the automatic on park.

"Well it's a bit crooked, but fine," Horatio nodded and reached for the case file on the back seat.

"But you need to hurry, Dad. The game will start soon and I can't be late."

"I know, I know. I offered to drive you, but you didn't want to hear that," Horatio replied and got out of the car. "Stay seated and don't open the door, okay?"

"Dad, this is a police parking lot. What could happen to me here?" the boy groaned in annoyance.

"Just do what I tell you and you better not change my radio stations."

"Who me? Never." At least as long as his dad was nearby. Besides he had brought a CD with him that was much better. "Hurry."

Horatio just rolled his eyes and hurried over the parking lot to the lab. Today was Saturday and normally it was his day off, but he had taken an important file with him, which needed to be back today. Consequently he just wore jeans and t-shirt, which didn't fit to the normal attire he wore in the lab. The looks he got as a response went from confusion, over shock to appreciation. Especially from the female staff, who probably had never thought that their boss would own such clothes. But since he didn't have much time, he didn't stop for conversations, but went straight to his office where he put the file on his desk and made his way back outside. Elijah had his last game of the season and he didn't want to miss that. Not to mention the fact that his son was waiting for him.

The fact that Horatio Caine was wearing casual clothes in the lab, had quickly made its way to the break room and therefore to Calleigh, who was drinking a coffee there. She knew what he looked like and so she couldn't blame the ladies drooling over him. She almost had a heart attack the first time she had seen him like this. However she didn't care about that right now. She had taken Alexx' advice to heart and since she had nothing to do, she wanted to take the chance to talk to him. Without thinking she followed him to the parking lot where she called his name.

Surprised Horatio stopped in his steps and turned around. This was the first time since their break up that Calleigh talked to him by her own choice.

"I'm glad I caught you..," she stopped breathlessly. "I..uhm…"

Curious but also a little bit impatient Horatio looked at her. "Calleigh I.."

"Horatio…I'm sorry…"

Intrigued he tilted his head. That sounded like fun. "Yes?"

"I..uhm…could we talk? In private?"

Sighing, Horatio looked to the GMC and back to Calleigh. "No."

Taken aback she stared at him. "No?" she repeated dejected. "But…"

"Calleigh, I don't have much time. My son has a baseball game and is sitting there in the car," he explained and pointed to the GMC. "And we're already a bit late. If you want to talk to me, you can come to my house later. And now…I need to go." Though he didn't believe that Calleigh really wanted to talk to him. A simple 'I'm sorry' wouldn't be enough. She had hurt him badly and he showed her that by giving her a cold shoulder.

Confused Cal looked to the car and thought that she could just make out a figure in the driver's seat. So this was Elijah. She just could make the outlines. "I..I'll be there..," she promised.

"Mhm, okay. See you," Horatio replied half hearted and walked to the car.

"Who was that, Dad?" Elijah greeted his father curiously, the second he got into the car. "Calleigh?"

"Yes," was the short reply.

"And what did she want?" Interested he looked at the lady. His father liked blondes, that was for sure.

"That's not worth mentioning. And now let's go, or we will be too late."

"Aye-aye, Sir," Eli saluted and started the engine. "Too bad it's not the Hummer, we could use the sirens then."

"Elijaaaah."

***

Being in high spirits the Fisher/Caine family celebrated a successful ending of a great season in the garden.

"Did you see how I curved the last ball? I didn't even know I was able to do that," Elijah laughed and imitated the movements again.

"Considering you aren't a Pitcher, it was really good," Amber praised her boyfriend. "Maybe you should ask the coach, if you could specialize on this position?"

"I don't know, I also like the home plate," he shrugged and sat down next to her.

"Anyway, you all played great and deserved the win," Samantha interposed.

"Dad, when is the dinner ready? I'm starving."

"Nothing new, Junior," Horatio laughed. "It will take a few more minutes."

"Hmph, great. I'll be too weak to eat then."

"That's great, so the others have more then," Horatio teased and reached for his glass. Just as he was about to drink something the doorbell rang.

"Huh? Did you invite someone else, Elijah?"

"Me? Why me? Maybe it's Paul?"

"No, Paul isn't in the city."

"I'll have a look," Horatio stepped in since he knew who it was, or so he thought that is. She was indeed here, well that was a surprise to put it mildly.

There weren't many situations in which Calleigh got nervous, but this one definitely belonged to them. She tried to calm her shaking nerves by taking some deep breaths, but only with a doubtful result. She had repelled the urge to drive back home several times, but decided against it. When she heard someone's footsteps, she held her breath and made step back.

Through the open patio door, Horatio could hear the laughing of the others and he could imagine that Elijah was making jokes. He must have that from his mother's side. Arriving at the front door, he looked through the peephole and got his affirmation – it was Calleigh. Outside calm, but inside tensed, he opened the door. "Calleigh…"

"Hi," she breathed out audible and gave him a small smile. The fact that she had gone through the whole conversation while driving was getting her nowhere now, because it surprised her that Horatio had actually opened the door, since he had been a bit unkind on the parking lot. "Uhm…I hope I didn't interrupt anything.."

"Oh well, I.."

"DAD, I think the steaks will be charcoal soon," Elijah called through the garden and house. Why should he go to his dad, when a nice shout would do the same?

"Then turn them or get them off the barbecue," Horatio called back.

"I can? Cool!!"

Horatio just rolled his eyes and dedicated his attention to Calleigh. "His team had won and since it was the last game of the season…we have a small BBQ here..Elijah, Samantha and me," he explained her.

Calleigh had heard every word and could smack herself. Why had she assumed to find Horatio alone? "Oh, well then…it's unfortunate..," she murmured. Just as wrong as the assumption to have a undisturbed conversation was the belief that this talk would run smoothly. If there would be a talk at all, because at the moment it looked like Horatio had better things to do.

"Not favorable, but not impossible," Horatio replied and got interrupted again.

"DAD, could we start dinner?? Or I'll be famished!!!"

"Horatio this is absolutely you. No one in my family is that theatrical," Samantha laughed.

Horatio groaned. "Gee, yes, eat something..and the others too. There's enough food…," he called back and grinned. "Still..," he added quietly and shook his head. "I'm sorry, they're both badly brought up. Where were we? Right, if you want to you can come in. If we hurry, we can probably get something to eat."

"DAD"

"GOSH YES."

By this time all courage had left her, because it became more and more clear that an easy and clarifying talk with Horatio wouldn't be possible. At the same time, Alexx's words were running through her mind and confused her. Because Alexx had told her that Horatio was down and full of self-reproach, but she saw nothing of that. Either she had misunderstood Alexx or Horatio had fooled the doctor, like he had done with her. "I should better get going…your…family…is waiting for you." This was useless. With every minute she realized that Horatio wouldn't leave his family. Why should he?

"And there you are mistaken," Horatio shook his head and slouched his shoulders. "I had a family. For three months. And this family…broke into pieces a week ago.." And he still didn't know the reason why when he thought about it. "Elijah is my son, Samantha is his mother and my ex-wife, but that doesn't make us a family…at least not the one I want." And he would probably never have the one he wished for and that hurt a lot.

"Dad are you coming?" Elijah called again and Horatio didn't answer.

"I'm sorry Calleigh, but I need to go back to the garden.."

"That's okay," she put him off and not only looked disappointed, she really was. "I..I don't want to hold you back." She didn't want to admit it, but Horatio's explanation hit her hard. Apparently, Horatio had seen something more in their relationship and due to her ignorance she had destroyed it. With slumped shoulders and sad face, she turned around. "Have a nice time…see you.." To make things worse, she would see him every day in the lab.

"Thanks," Horatio replied quietly and closed the door behind him. Inside, he leaned against it and needed to take a few calming breaths. This whole situation was one big mess and he had no idea how or even if he should fix it. It didn't look good right now.

"Dad are you still here?" Elijah entered the house and saw his father standing in the hallway. "Dad?"

"I'm coming…"

"Who was that?"

"It was..uhm…Calleigh," he said honestly and walked to his son.

"Doesn't she want to have dinner with us?"

"This isn't…no she doesn't," he shook his head slowly.

"Dad, maybe you should-"

"Elijah, please. Just let's get something to eat and enjoy the day, okay?" He didn't feel like talking about this relationship.

"Yeah…it's okay…Mum has set something aside for you," he tried to cheer up his dad. He didn't like the way his father was only half of a man, except when he had someone around him who kept him occupied. Something had to happen, there was no mistake about it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

It was right after 6 p.m. when Elijah looked at his watch and asked himself if he had missed her by accident. It appeared less likely, because her Jeep was still parked, but possible. Here were so many people coming and going, that it was hard to keep up.

His dad had told him once that she owned this type of car, so he was pretty sure that this one belonged to her. Sighing he sat down on a curbstone at some distance to the lab, and adjusted his baseball cap. He had already been sitting here for whole two hours, had jumped into a bush when he had seen his father and had also raised curious looks from others. If this woman wouldn't appear in the next minutes, he would get arrested and _that _would have a bad ending for him. His dad took that pretty seriously.

"When does she come? She's working longer than dad..," he griped, because he was hot and thirsty. He wouldn't sit here much longer, but return to his mission tomorrow. "Or the day after tomorrow, if Amber wants to go to the beach." They both had their summer vacation after all and therefore free disposal of the whole day. Waiting beside a street wasn't all that funny. Stressed out he got up again, took off his sunglasses and cap to whip away the sweat on his forehead and stretched his muscles. "She has to come out sometime, I mean no one is working overtime by choice…well except of dad maybe…" And if she did it by choice, then she perfectly fitted to his father.

Impatiently he looked around to see if some kiosk had appeared mysteriously and because of that almost overlooked the blond woman, who had left the lab. "Finally," he sighed, put on his cap and sunglasses and sprinted to the parking lot. He didn't care what his dad would say about this outfit. Well he already knew the answer anyway.

"Ma'am…Ma'am…I need your help." As a police officer she had to wait for him, right? Yes, he could be quite sly when he wanted to.

Still being deep in thoughts, Calleigh needed a moment to register that someone was talking to her. Confused she pushed up her sunglasses, looked around, but couldn't see anyone else but the boy who was approaching her with quick steps. Shaking her head she lowered her glasses again and continued walking.

Hm, weird. Normally the call for help should have been enough. "Ma'am…would you please wait a moment..," he tried again and hoped that he was luckier this time.

Again she stopped and turned around to the blond boy. Apparently he had meant her after all. Before she had thought about a mistake. "Yes?"

"Whew," he brought out and braced his hands against his thighs. Three weeks without training and he was already on his last legs. "Uhm, are you Calleigh Duquesne?" he straightened up again.

Furrowing his brows she looked at him. "Yes. And…you are?"

Just like he had learned, he took off his sunglasses and hung them on his collar. His dad had always told them, that it was polite to take off one's sunglasses when you talked to strangers. "I'm Elijah."

When she heard the name, she could make out some similarities between father and son. The nose, the dimple when he smiled and…the eyes. Those wonderful blue eyes, that seemed to be even more intense. "Hello," she replied and was unable to make heads or tails of what he wanted. "Do you want to visit your dad?"

"Oh…no, no. If dad knew I'm here…he would have my head," he smiled cheekily. "I'm here for you Ms. Duquesne…well…I want to talk to you, if you have time that is."

She blinked. "You want to talk to me? Why?"

"Uhm..oh well…," sheepishly he scratched his head, because his plan was a bit bold. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. "Basically, I want to talk about you and my dad."

"And about what in particular?" she went into it, because it didn't make any sense to her.

"About you and my dad having another try..because..I'm sure that he misses you," he answered her cautiously. Basically it didn't concern him.

"Elijah," she looked around because she believed that she was being played, though this seemed to be improbable. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why?" he just asked back. He maybe was still a teenager, but this didn't mean that he was too young for that.

Sighing she ran a hand through her hair. Her glance fell on her car and the on the boy, who had the typical Caine-look on his face. And that look told her, that he wouldn't give up easily. Furthermore, there was something else that came into her mind. "Shouldn't you be at home? Does your father know that you're here?" It was still hard to cotton up with the fact that Horatio was a father.

"Nah, he doesn't know. He doesn't want me to be here," he sighed and spoke the truth. "And I have summer vacation so I can stay up longer plus…I'm almost sixteen and not six." The woman was funny.

"I didn't mean it like that," she shook her head. "More like, if your father has something to do with this." You never knew what Horatio was up to.

"Dad? No," he shook his head. "You don't know my father all that well if you think that he has asked his son to do something like this. He has no idea that I'm here and talking to you. He's at home probably, brooding over some files, like he does often…" It was hard for him to balance between not giving away too much about his dad, but also showing her that he wasn't feeling well because of the break up.

Apparently this conversation would take longer, because Elijah didn't want to leave or so it seemed. As strange as it felt to talk to him, her curiosity was growing. "We should go to somewhere we can talk in private, don't you think?"

"I wouldn't mind, don't want dad to see me and get grounded. It's very uncool when you have vacation," the boy agreed with her happily. This was the first step into the right direction.

"Okay then hop in," she asked him and wondered why she was doing this. The relationship was over and she wasn't certain if the boy knew what he was doing. But he was nice and attentive. And for his sake, even though they just knew each other for 15 minutes, she would listen to him.

"I'd be glad to. I'm open to everything as long as they have something cold to drink. Next time I'm bringing lemonade with me," he told her and got into the car. Normally you shouldn't do that with strangers, but he assumed that Calleigh wasn't beneath them. "I really love a Jeep, it's perfect for the beach. But I don't think that dad has the same opinion…I'd probably get something secure that looks totally uncool..," he started talking like any boy in his age. "In case I get my own car…you never know what's going on in dad's head…hm…but a Jeep is awesome."

"Thank you," she smiled because of his praise and drove the car from the parking lot of the police department. "I think I know just the perfect ice cream parlor."

***

Satisfied, Elijah savored his milkshake and leaned back in his chair. This was good. Finally something cool and tasty. He had waited for this for hours. "Much better," he sighed and took off his cap. According to his dad, it was impolite to wear a hat at the table and since he wanted to make a good impression on Calleigh, he followed Horatio's words. Mischievously he smiled at Calleigh and ran a hand through his hair, unsure of how to start the conversation again.

"How long did you wait outside?" she wanted to know and stirred her Latte.

"I think…about two hours. Yeah this sounds good. Dad always says that he can't sign off to schedule most of the time…but I thought that quitting time would be at 4…and I didn't want to miss you," he answered her honestly. "Because it's very important for me to talk to you Ms. Duquesne…"

Even though the boy was indeed nice, Calleigh wasn't sure if this would produce a result. Even so Horatio had told her three weeks ago that he'd felt like a real family with her, but he had also bombed her in a way. He had fobbed her off and hadn't even tried to show interest in her. "Calleigh is just fine," she smiled friendly and got more serious then. "But I want to be honest to you…I don't think that this talk will get us a result."

"Okay, its Calleigh then, thanks," he thanked her politely and took a deep breath. "Personally I hope that this talk will provide a basis for you and my dad…uhm..you know what I mean," he smiled shyly. "I don't know anything about the reason of the break up and I don't want to know, because it's none of my business. I just want to know if you don't see any chance that you could be together again?"

Calleigh marveled over Elijah's dedication over this subject. It wasn't that natural for a boy in his age. But then again…he was Horatio Caine's son. So the phrase the apple doesn't fall far from the tree fitted perfectly here. "I…don't think so."

"Oh…," he murmured broken and absentmindedly played with his straw. "But you were at his house three weeks ago, right?"

"You mean after we…after we broke up? At the Saturday when you had your game? Yes, I was there. But it didn't change anything about the whole situation," she answered him genuinely because she didn't want to raise the boy's hopes. "It had been for nothing."

"It certainly wasn't helpful that I called him every two minutes, hm?" he asked rhetorically because he already knew the answer to that. "If I had known that you were there, I would have kept my mouth shut and left you two alone, because I'm sure that dad wouldn't have minded to talk to you." He probably went out on a limb, but he didn't care.

"Oh well, he didn't have that much freedom of decision, I guess. But he showed me what is more important to him and I have to accept that…I accept that," she corrected herself.

"I think that he doesn't have any hope," Elijah admitted, "he didn't have it before and..," he shrugged his shoulders, "he assumes that it's to no avail. But what I _know_ is that I've never seen my dad so happy. He wasn't…my dad. He was in a good mood, had laughed a lot…I've known my dad for almost 16 years now and he was a completely different person."

"Elijah..," she started, "I think it's awesome that you worry, but I don't think that your father and I have a future together. Because, to be honest, he had hurt my feelings. I've worked with him for over two years now and he had never told me about you, your mother his ex-wife. And with that he showed me that he doesn't trust me. How should a relationship work then? If you can't confide in your partner?" She didn't know if the boy could understand it, but she tried not to sugarcoat it. That wouldn't work. "I mean that's everything that matters, right?"

"So it's my fault..," the boy murmured and bit his lip. Or part of it was his fault in his eyes and that hurt. "He had told you about us after all, that's more than most people can say. This is even more than my friends can say…and I've known some of them since kindergarten. Dad wants to protect me, I don't know from what, but he wants it…and that he told you about me means a lot."

"No, it's not your fault, Elijah," she leaned forward alarmed, because she noticed that the boy was quarreling with himself. "I wish there would have been a happy end, but I don't know what to do. Your father and I…we both have experienced disappointments. And that's why it hit me hard that he betrayed me in a way." These were hard words, she knew that, and she didn't like that she had to tell them a teenager. Gloomily she leaned back and looked out of the window next to them. "It wasn't meant to be."

"So you just give up? Like dad? There was one argument and that's it? Well then you're right. My dad is too stubborn to make the first step, most of all because you left him…but I know that he's waiting for you. I know that, because his thoughts are miles away when I'm with him. I know that, because he's just like before." Surly he took the last sip of his milkshake. "And they say that teenagers would act childish, ha!"

"Why is this relationship so important to you?" she asked. "And what do you mean he's like before?"

"He's withdrawn, serious…like always. A few months ago I thought it would be his nature, but I was mistaken. You ask why it's so important to me? Because I know that my dad loves you, I was the one who kinda...talked him into asking you out and I want my dad to be happy. My mom already is, me too, it's just dad…who isn't."

"You convinced him?" Those were interesting news.

"Well I gave him a little push…," the boy smiled cheekily. "When I told him about my girlfriend, I asked about his…and oh well a week after he had asked you out."

Thoughtfully, Calleigh rested her chin on her hand. There was a turmoil of passions inside her. She would never forget the three months she had with Horatio, but still there was a bad aftertaste. "And you wouldn't have issues with that? I mean that your dad has a partner?" She had heard about kids, revolting against a new partner.

"This seems to be an adamant prejudice. Dad had asked me the same..," he rolled his eyes. "Do you really think, that I would be sitting here, asking you to give my dad a second chance… if I had issues with that?"

Calleigh couldn't help but smile. The more she talked with him, the more she realized that he was his father's son. "You're definitely a Caine," she told him quietly.

"Yeah? That's possible…" He wasn't so sure about it. Except of his mom and once in a while aunt Alexx he had no one to talk to about such things. But this wasn't about him. "What does that mean?"

"Once a Caine has set himself a goal, he tries to reach it. Your father is the same. He would do everything to help someone. Just like you're doing it right now," she explained him. Apparently he was interested in other people talking about his father. "It's a very nice character trait. This self-sacrifice, in a positive way of course."

"Cool. Mom always tells me that I inherited his stubbornness…and I guess she's right," he smiled lightly. "And this is what holds him back," he thought out loud and tilted his head. "Maybe you reflect about it again and I promise not to bother you."

And again she had to smile when she saw the movement of his head. "This gesture, the way you're tilting your head has to be in the Caine genes," she answered his unspoken question. But what outweighed it, was Elijah's suggestion. "I will think about it," she told him when she looked up again and saw those sparkling blue eyes, she had memorized the first she had seen Horatio.

"I think that actually more than I deserve, since I ran you down," Elijah nodded. "And it would be great, if you didn't mention this to dad. Or I will be grounded for the next 10 years and kiss driving goodbye."

"I don't think so, you're both into cars way too much," she chuckled. "But don't worry about that. I won't tell him, promise," she told him and laid her hand on his.

"Okay, thanks. Oh and you don't know my dad…when his car has a scratch…oh I don't even want to think about it and the Hummer..," he shook his head. "That's dangerous.."

"It'll be OK," she patted his hand and then grabbed her purse. "This is my treat, thanks for the talk, Elijah" she said and laid some dollars onto the tablet.

"Oh great. Thanks Calleigh." As a teenager you were always short of money. "Well I will head home then, before mom gets ideas."

"I can give you a lift," she suggested.

"Uhm…okay…but only if it's okay for you, I don't live that far away."

In the meantime she had stood up. "Nope, that's not a problem," she assured him. Besides she would be reassured that Elijah made it back safely. "So, are you up to another ride with a Jeep?"

This didn't need an answer. "Of course. Maybe you can say a good word for me…when my dad thinks about my car," he smirked. You had to use every chance.

To think about that was quite bold, but she couldn't hold it against the boy. When they walked outside, she just said, "let's get surprised."

"Okay, cool." He told her his address and hopped in. When he would tell Amber about that she would get crazy. First a Hummer and now a Jeep. Now he just hoped that Calleigh would talk to his dad.

_**Tbc**_

**Thank you all for your reviews. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

While she was waiting in front of the door, Calleigh looked around. It's been a week since her talk with Elijah. A week that didn't pass by without problems. While work she had encountered Horatio inevitably, which hadn't made the whole situation easier. They hadn't shouted or snarled at each other, but there had been this strange feeling of being in the wrong place and knowing that people around you were talking and making their own assumptions. Now she was at the point where she wanted to know how things stood. That's why she had taken Elijah's words by heart and had driven to Horatio without telling him before. And that was also why she was nervous, because she didn't know what or who would be waiting for her. She already wanted to go again, when there had been no movement at her first ring, but she tried again. Maybe Horatio was out of earshot. Either way she had done her best.

Groaning, Horatio got up from his couch and cursed his old bones. It was never good when you had laid on a comfortable couch and your legs fell asleep. Then they never did what you wanted them to. However he asked himself who his guest could be. It was early evening after all and he wasn't expecting anyone. It couldn't be Elijah, because the boy would storm into the house and Samantha always told him before she would come by. So it had to be a salesman or one of his neighbors. He couldn't think of anyone else. He was all the more surprised to see Calleigh through the peephole. "Calleigh?" he asked stunned and opened the door a bit wider. "Did something happen?" Even though they weren't friends any longer, he was still worrying about her. It was in his nature.

Faintly she smiled at him, because his worry was plain to see. "Not exactly," she answered him tentatively and took a deep breath before she continued, "can…can we talk?"

"Uhm, sure...," he nodded and opened the door so she could step in. "What do you mean by not exactly?" he asked her confused and motioned her to go into the living room. As long as he didn't know what was going on, he was worried.

Even though she has went through all the possibilities, Horatio's readiness to talk surprised her. Slowly she walked into the living room. "Something has happened, that's right, but it doesn't only concern me but both of us."

"Oh…okay." Now he had a bad feeling. Hopefully Calleigh didn't want to resign. That would hit him nevertheless. "Do you want something to drink?" He could stall for time then.

"Water maybe?" She wasn't that thirsty, but she didn't want to turn down his hospitality.

"Good. Just a moment, please. Have a seat," he offered her and disappeared into the kitchen where he had to get himself together. This had been the longest sentences he had exchanged with Calleigh for weeks now. Just the question how long this would continue. With a glass of water and a soft drink for himself he came back a few minutes later and took a seat in the chair across her. "Okay…"

Nervously she fumbled with her glass before she put it on the table. "I've…been thinking and I wanted to apologize for what happened. I'm really sorry," she said slowly, because she wanted to make sure that there weren't any misunderstandings. Her glance wandered from the table to Horatio.

"I'm sorry too…," he mumbled and touched his cheek unconsciously. "I haven't been tactful…and I threw you in at the deep end, I have to apologize for that. As well as for avoiding you in the lab," he sighed. Finally he had said it and silenced his conscience.

They made the first step and that lifted her spirits. But still it wouldn't be easy to talk about her emotions and feelings. "Well, we both made mistakes," she nodded weakly. "And learned from them hopefully. I overreacted, because I felt betrayed. Being told about Elijah and your wife, well ex-wife, after two years…shocked me."

Sorrowful he looked down at his can and hoped that he would find the right answer. "Ex-wife yes, we got divorced about 14 years ago," he nodded. "I'm trying to…block Elijah from the world we're working in and sometimes I overplay it. I'm just afraid that the wrong people would get wind of his existence.."

"I'm not sure if I can understand that…it's strange to block both of them from the world. I mean, not even Tim and Eric know about them, do they?"

"No, there's only Alexx who knows and the Chief if something happens to me. But except for those two, no. Well and now you too," he explained her with a faint smile. "I know that you can't understand that…"

"No, I can't," she admitted. "But maybe you can...explain it to me?"

"I…can give it a shot," he nodded. "When Samantha had told me that she was pregnant back then…I was so happy at first, because I love children. Unfortunately it happened in a very bad time and like every father I got scared. The normal fears like the uncertainty if you're a good father…of the responsibility..and that your whole life changes," he told her in a steady voice.

"But what I feared most was the fact that my job could hurt him. You must know back then..there had been a lot of gang wars about drugs and I put a lot of them behind bars. At first I got threatening calls…in the office.. on my cell and later even at home, where one told me that I should keep my hands off their business or the ones I love will pay for it. I couldn't allow, that they would hurt Elijah and that's why he's never had the Caine as his last name. He's got his mother's maiden name and…sometime it was too much for Samantha and we got divorced. And since then it's in me. I could never forgive myself when something happens to Elijah because of me…"

Intently she had absorbed every word and every detail. "So far it's replicable and I'm sure that you wanted to avoid every risk. But what makes me mad is, that you don't trust me or the team. We're family…and I bet that the boys have told you one or two secrets..and you," she said quietly, "are holding something important like this back. Can you imagine what it feels like? When you get to know that someone is living a double life? Wouldn't that hurt you too?"

"I've never said that it won't hurt you," he clarified. "And I can't do more than telling you that I'm sorry. I didn't want to tell you from the start when we started dating, that I have a son. I wanted to make sure that you're serious with me and that you like children. Because there never is just me, Elijah is always a part of my life. And..I should have said something in the beginning, but I can't turn back time."

There was another thing occupying her thoughts, even though Horatio had already went into details. She leaned forward and asked him calmly. "And what if we make a fresh start and..have our own children, do you want to keep them hidden too? Feign ignorance?" She wanted to be with him, yes, but if he wanted to continue with this hide-and-seek she wouldn't play along. She wouldn't accept this "game". This wasn't her nature.

He didn't have an answer to that. For one thing it came unexpected and for another thing he had never thought about it. "I…I don't know," he shook his head. "I've never thought about it what it would be like to be a father again, because to be honest I never thought that there would be a possibility," he admitted her. But he was more interested in her insertion. "A fresh start?"

She nodded yes. "Because I still love you."

Surprised but nevertheless happy he looked at her. "Really? I mean despite this..matter?" He didn't want to get dumped again.

"Maybe even because of this matter. I've seen a new side of you; a side I really like seeing."

"So it's okay for you that I'm a father?" he asked surprised, because most of the other women he had tried to date hadn't been happy about it. "Oh…that's great!" And still he had the feeling that there would be a But.

"You already gave the answer to that…Elijah will always be a part of your life and I can't change that," she shrugged. "I hope however that there aren't more secrets about other children."

"I hope not. Well I don't know of any, so no..," he smiled. "So does that mean we're a couple again?" he asked and stood up to take a seat next to her.

She looked into his eyes but couldn't hold it for long. Her next words would probably hurt him. "I came here today, because I wanted to straighten things out and now..I need some time to think about it," she told him candidly, because this was very important to her. "There is a lot of information that I still need to process."

"Oh…" This was certainly not the answer he had been waiting for. Unsure he folded his hands in his lap and didn't know what to say. "So this mean that I should give you time and then..you'll tell me if we get a fresh start or not?" he asked and didn't like it. He didn't like the fact to be depending on other people's decisions. "Is there something I can do? Except leave you alone?"

In fact Horatio could have used her answer as an opportunity to reject her request, but he showed her understanding, which caused Calleigh to lean to him and placing a kiss on his cheek. "I know it's much I'm asking for, but I really want to make sure that we have a basis again. Anything else would be a sham."

"I think that's okay after everything that happened," Horatio nodded and flushed pink when she kissed him. "I'll give you time and you take your time and then we'll see." He could just wait and see.

"Yes," she smiled at him and took his hand. "Thank you for your honesty."

"Thanks for the chance to explain," he smiled back and had missed being close to her. "Do you want to stay for a bit?"

Her answer came hesitantly. "I don't think this would be good, Horatio."

Again an answer he hadn't expected, but he was kinda sure that it wouldn't be the last time. "You're probably right. Then we..postpone it to another time and..if you have questions, just come to me, okay? No matter what about."

"You bet," she grinned in order to tone down the heaviness of this subject.

"Good. Then I'll kick you out and you think about things," he laughed lightly. "So we part as friends today?"

She sighed with relief. "Yes, today we part as friends." This talk went much better than she had originally thought and she was glad that she had made this step.

"I like that a lot," he squeezed her hand. From now on it could only get better.

_**Tbc**_

**Thank you all for your reviews. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"50 bucks that H overslept."

"You're nuts, Delko."

"Are you in or not?"

"I don't bet."

"You're so boring, Speedle."

"And you have a gambling addiction."

"Guys?" Calleigh entered the break room. "Have you seen Horatio?"

"No, but Mr. Delko here has a very interesting theory," Tim answered her and shook his head in amusement.

"Yeah?"

Eric grinned and sipped his coffee. "You bet! I'm sure he had a date yesterday and oh..hmm I think it lasted a bit longer and promptly he overslept."

Calleigh flinched inevitably by his words. Their talk had gone well, but she couldn't be sure if Horatio hadn't had…certain plans for the weekend. _"You should listen to yourself, Calleigh. This is ridiculous!"_ She trusted him. Again. Still. The timeframe for considering hadn't been that long, only two days, but she already knew that she would give them a second chance. She wanted to await this week and see how and if they could build up their friendship again and then she would tell him her definite decision. "You think so?" she asked Eric in hope of appearing uninvolved.

"Why not? What could be another option?" Eric countered.

"Mhm, maybe he had killed Stetler and is on the run?" Tim pondered with a sarcastic undertone to make clear that he found Eric's theory absurd. "Everyone can be late."

"You maybe, but we're talking about H aka Mr. Workaholic," the half-cuban raised his brows.

"So you don't know anything," Calleigh sighed and didn't want to participate in her colleagues' silly conversation any longer.

"No, sorry Cal," Tim replied. "Maybe Alexx knows." If there was one person who knew anything, then their mother.

That was a good hint. "I think I should really ask her. Thanks guys." Before the boys could answer, she had already left the room.

Eric frowned after her. "Don't mention it." Then he grinned in Tim's direction. "50 bucks there there's something going on between them."

Annoyed Tim put his newspaper onto the table. "You can't stop it, huh?"

"And you're still boring."

"You know what? I'm going back to my lab." With that he stood up and left the room.

"I stay with it!" Eric laughed and put away his cup before he started to work again.

Satisfied Alexx handed Valera some samples which she had taken from the newest victim and looked at her watch. It was now 10 a.m. and there were far too many hours left before she could pack her things. Never before had a day had felt that long and she really wished that the time would run faster, but apparently the contrary was the case.

On her way to DNA she had already heard the wildest theories about Horatio and it saddened and infuriated her, that everyone had to put in his two cents. Horatio was only human and had a very good reason for not being here. She just wanted to smack everyone who had babbled about a long date, but she couldn't. She had promised Horatio to stay silent, but she wasn't sure if she could keep it; it was harder minute by minute. Sighing she stopped at the lift and looked at the display panel, in hopes that it would give her much needed answers, when she was suddenly called.

"Alexx? I'm glad to see you. Do you have time?" Calleigh approached her with a smile.

"For you always, sweetie," Alexx turned around and was relieved to see at least one rational person in this kindergarten. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you heard from Horatio?" They had a close link after all. "The boys know nothing."

Quickly, Alexx looked around and since the lift hadn't arrived yet, she took Calleigh's arm and dragged her into some unwatched corner. "Yes I have," she nodded and wasn't surprised that Cal didn't know.

This was weird. "So?" Cal looked at her questioningly.

When she answered her, she lowered her voice. "He's in hospital. Elijah had a car accident last night."

Her heart had almost stopped. Startled she held her hand against her mouth. "Oh my god!" Her eyes went wide. "Is Elijah okay? What happened? Oh my god!"

"I don't know. Horatio was in shock when he called me. I don't even think that he still remembers calling me, let alone what he told me," Alexx shook her head. "Everything I know is, that he's in the Mercy Hospital."

"If something would have changed, he would have called you, or?" Right now she was rattled.

"I do hope so, but I don't know how Horatio is doing now…how the boy was doing at all…there are so many possible injuries in a car accident," she sighed and didn't want to imagine it. "I don't know what happens when.." She didn't want to think of that.

Calleigh's heart got even heavier than it already was, when she continued the sentence in her mind. "We should think positive," she replied monotone.

"Yes we should. I think I'll stop by at the hospital this afternoon and look after him. I know Horatio…he won't cope well with that." Since she didn't know any news about the relationship between Horatio and Calleigh, she didn't dare to ask if Calleigh wanted to see him too. It might be awkward.

"Yeah, I think I will stop by too," she murmured and needed to control herself in not dashing off now. It wasn't easy, but she couldn't be absent too, but had to try to manage work without Horatio. "He will be a nervous wreck."

"Yes, he will," Alexx agreed. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" They had avoided each other for some time now and the least thing that Horatio needed was more stress.

Blinking she looked at her friend. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want him to have more stress and your…relationship or whatever you call it…is anything but stress-free at the moment."

"Oh." Apparently Horatio had kept silence. "We talked..on Saturday..and I asked for some time to think it over and he gave it to me," she informed her.

"Oh?" Alexx asked surprised. He hadn't told her. Typical Horatio. "Well then…if you want to you can go alone to the hospital…maybe I disrupt something," she suggested. She would call him later either way.

"No, you can visit him. I don't think I will stay for long. He has other things in mind. I just want to see him briefly," she qualified the conjuncture. She didn't want to force herself on him.

"If you think so." She would come up with something so Calleigh would go alone to the hospital. "Do you know his name? Otherwise you won't find him."

She hadn't thought of that. "No, I just know his first name."

Alexx smiled. "Fisher. Elijah Fischer," she told her. "We should go back to work now and after shifts end we drive to the hospital, okay?"

"Sounds good to me," Cal nodded and was glad that she could distract herself with work, or she would get crazy. She said goodbye with a hug. "See you and thanks for telling me. You give me a shout when you have any news?"

"Of course sweetie. Promise." Though she hoped there wouldn't be any, at least no bad ones.

***

It hurt Horatio's soul deeply to see his son lying in a hospital bed, especially when he didn't look like his son. Elijah wore a neck brace, had excoriations in his face and the blanket covered his broken leg and the bruises the seatbelt had caused by the collision. According to the paramedics he had been unconscious when they arrived and had found out his name and address due to his identity card. Unconscious…he still was, which was down to the pain killers, the doctors had given him. All that didn't make it easier for Horatio and Samantha to stay calm. Everything they wanted was Elijah to open his eyes again.

"Sam it's almost Five. You should get home. You haven't eaten anything in the whole day..," Paul positioned himself behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. Neither she nor Horatio had left the room since their arrival and he knew that this wouldn't go well.

"Just five more minutes, Paul," she replied absentmindedly and stroked Eli's hand.

"He's right, Samantha..I'll stay with him..," Horatio offered her and couldn't avert his gaze from his son.

"You both should head home, you included, Horatio," Paul said.

"I'll stay."

"No. You've been on your feet the whole day too and it's not good for the boy when he wakes up and sees his parents look like.. well you know. I'm gonna give you a lift." He was pretty serious about that. According to the doctors it could some time till the boy woke up.

"You want to tell me what I'm allowed to do??" Nothing doing.

"Horatio please. Go home, eat and get some sleep. You want to be there for Elijah when he wakes up, right?"

Horatio hung his head in defeat. He had already failed the boy, nothing could change that.

"Should I give you a lift?"

"No, I can drive myself."

Paul wasn't so sure about that, but he didn't want to strain his luck. "Okay..," he nodded and squeezed Samantha's shoulder. "If something changes, the doctor will call you. He's in good hands." Even though it was hard for him, he had to be the voice of reason.

"Yes," Sam said quietly and stood up. She didn't want to leave him alone, not now, not ever.

"Sam, let's go…everything is going to be fine."

Horatio stood up as well and hugged his ex-wife. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?"

The answer was a nod and a sob. "Y-yes."

"Take care of her, Paul."

"I will and take care of yourself," the man answered and led his girlfriend out of the room.

Horatio was barely alone in the room when he ran a hand over his face and leaned down to his son. "You'll make it, Partner. Just sleep…I will keep an eye on you, okay?" he told him in a weak voice and stroked the blond hair. "I love you, Eli.." Nothing hurt so much than leaving him now.

Even though she had asked the nurse at the registration desk two times for the correct way to Elijah's room, Calleigh wandered around. Everything looked the same and since she hadn't been there with her thoughts, she had to look around more than once if she was in the correct floor. In doing so, her look fell on a figure with its head bowed which was leaning against the wall just a few meters away. Immediately she felt a sting and she accelerated. A few moments later she slowed down. "Horatio?" she asked him quietly so he wouldn't get startled.

Surprised Horatio looked up when he heard his name and his eyes fell on Calleigh. Slowly he straightened himself and forced himself to smile. "Cal..hi, everything all right?" He was extremely distracted.

Before she answered him, she stepped in front of him. He looked harassed and she couldn't help but lay a hand on his upper arm. "Yes, don't worry about me, Horatio," she told him. "I'm worried about you and Elijah. How is he? Is he okay?" Horatio would have reacted differently if something very bad had happened to the boy, so she dared to ask him directly.

"I...I don't know…I think so yes…but somehow not.." It was hard to clothe his thoughts in words. "I have to get home…the doctors will call…when he wakes up…yes."

In all those years she had known him, she had never seen him in this state of agitation, never seen him so helpless. This shocked and alarmed her likewise. "He's not awake yet?" No wonder that Horatio was so confused, because she knew that uncertainty was the worst of all things.

"No, he's still unconscious…due to the accident and the pain killers," he shook his head and pushed himself away from the wall. "I'm going home."

This in turn made her worry. "Should I give you a lift?" she asked carefully, because he didn't look like he was in any state to drive.

"I can drive by myself," he countered and walked into the direction to the elevator when suddenly his knees went weak and he felt a firm grip on his elbow.

"Whoa....let me give you a lift. I'll feel better when I know that you made it home safely," she talked insistently to him, while standing right next to him with an arm wrapped around his waist.

"Okay…" He was too tired to start an argument. "But to my house, I need to have the phone close by," he told her and let himself be led by Cal. On the one hand he wanted to stay, but on the other he needed to get home.

"Of course." She wouldn't have thought of something else.

***

Still a bit uncoordinated Calleigh busied herself in Horatio's kitchen, while the man of the house was still in the bathroom. The drive home had been in silence, but she didn't reproach her silent co-driver. Too much was going on in his mind and she was happy that he hadn't passed out. Therefore she had cooked a vegetable soup so he would have something warm in his stomach and his circulatory wouldn't give in.

After some rummaging she had found the dishes, the silverware and a tray. Being that equipped she made her way into the living room where she put down the tray onto the couch table and waited for Horatio to come back.

Horatio was standing in front of his bathroom mirror and wiped away the mist, which had been condensing during his shower. Normally warm water refreshed him, but he wasn't feeling any better. He felt anemic…and tired. He didn't feel like shaving and just because of the fact that Calleigh was waiting downstairs for him he got dressed. Otherwise he would have slipped into bed to blanket himself from the world. Despite everything he walked downstairs and immediately smelled the food. So the last thing he wanted right now.

"You found the kitchen?" he asked humorless and shuffled to the couch where he sat down.

"Yes, I've taken the liberty. I hope you have no objections?" Though this question was unnecessary, since the result of her search was waiting on the table to get eaten. "Do you want to try?"

"I'm not hungry…," he shook his head and closed his eyes. He didn't care if Cal had pottered around in the kitchen. He didn't care about anything today.

She had expected this answer, but she didn't give up. Just because she was anxious about his well-being. "When you taste it, I'm sure you'll realize how hungry you are," she talked to him gently. She knew about his stubbornness so she had to treat him warily.

"You sound like Alexx. Did you take lessons?" he asked and opened his eyes. "You don't have to do that for me Cal…it's after your quitting time and I'm sure you have other…things to do and it's not fair from me, that you feel oblige to stay here. I should be with Eli and not…being here..," he rattled on and wiped his face.

"Alexx will give me hell, when she finds out, that I left you alone," she pulled his chain tenderly and sat down next to him. "I know that I don't have to do that, but I want to and hope you let me." While talking she rubbed his shoulder and his upper back. "And at the moment you have to take care of yourself. It's no use if you wear yourself out, neither for you nor for Elijah. When he wakes up, you should be there for him in your best shape."

"If he wakes up..," he slouched his shoulders and lowered his head. "Okay…a few bites, but not more," he surrendered and carefully started to eat the hot soup.

Inside she sighed with relief, because she made progress and Horatio saw reason. At the beginning she had doubted that Horatio would be cooperative with her, because Alexx had gotten out of the affair with a pretense. Presumably she had wanted them to be alone and as nice as this thought had been, Calleigh hadn't liked it at first. Alexx was an institution and you didn't say no to her. But the way it looked momentarily everything seemed to be under control. Satisfied she smiled at him. "That's all I'm asking for."

In silence Horatio spooned his soup and couldn't help but praising it. "It's really good. I'm surprised that you were able to make it from my low stocks." The kitchen wasn't in such a bad way, but anyway.

"I can be quite creative sometimes," she smirked about the fact that he had eaten the whole bowl without grumbling and realizing it. That delighted her in addition to the praise. She hadn't left his side for the whole time and was now taking the soup bowl from him. "There's more if you want to."

"What do you mean..oh..I see…no." Sheepishly he looked at his bowl and hadn't realized that he had eaten up. "Thank you all the same." With a full stomach he felt a little bit better, but the bad feeling still outweighed, just like the tiredness.

"You're welcome," she replied gently. Of course she had noticed the subdued mood of her counterpart. "Why don't you lie down? Get some rest?"

"I think that's a great idea." Though sleep wasn't on the cards even though he was tired. But he could understand that Calleigh wanted to head home. "Well then.. I'm going to bed."

"I can stay here if you want to." She doubted that Horatio was in shape to get to the hospital in one piece if the doctor would call. "And drive you to the hospital..when Elijah is awake."

He liked the idea of not being alone very much, but he didn't want Calleigh to stay here when she had something better to do. "I don't want to force you Cal..I can stay alone, that's no problem."

"You're not forcing me, Horatio. I'm very keen on staying here. We're both rattled and to be honest I don't want to be alone either," she told him and tucked a strand behind her ear. "A problem shared is a problem halved."

Horatio could understand that only too well, though he was surprised. "Okay then…I'd be happy if you stay," he said quietly. "I have a guestroom…it's small, but when you need a bed uhm..," he murmured awkwardly.

"Oh the couch is enough for me. I'm far too psyched up to sleep."

"As you wish...feel at home," he nodded and stood up. "When you need me or something else, it's the second room on the right," he explained her.

"Okay, thanks," she nodded and gently kissed his unshaved cheek. "Try to get some sleep, okay?"

"I'll do my best," he promised and gave her a half smile. "I'm upstairs then."

***

After an hour Calleigh still wasn't able to find any peace of mind and stood up from the couch. She had cleaned the kitchen and had stood for some time in front of the bookshelf. Not to find a book for her to read, but looking at the two pictures. Elijah had changed a lot obviously, but he was still a rascal like on the photos.

Now her own nervousness started to set in. Earlier she had talked with Alexx and told her that there was nothing to tell, except of the fact that she had went home with Horatio and that the man was lying in bed right now. Both women had comforted each other in the hope that no call from the hospital also meant no aggravation. However it also meant no improvement of Elijah's condition. And this uncertainty was the worst part. How must Horatio feel with this? The longer she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. She had to make sure that he was doing fine to some degree.

Slowly she climbed the stairs and carefully opened the bedroom door, because she didn't want to wake him in case if he had succeeded in falling asleep. Outside the twilight had set in, but it wasn't entirely dark in the room, due to the hallway light which illuminated it. What she saw didn't surprise her, but damped her mood. Horatio wasn't asleep and it looked like his mind didn't come to rest, because she heard him sighing a few times.

Horatio hadn't heard the door, but he saw the light. Slowly he turned from his back onto his right side to look at Calleigh. He should have known that she would look after him. "Hey," he said and stayed under his blanket. When he had entered his bedroom, he had just gotten undressed except for his underwear, because it was much too warm in summer and slipped under his blanket. Sleep hadn't come as excepted, but therefore thousands thoughts that hadn't let him sleep.

Still in the same place, she stood between hallway and bedroom and smiled at him. "Hey, I just wanted to see you."

"Okay," he nodded lightly. "Do you need something?" The well-being of the ones around him was always important to him.

"I wanted to ask you the same," she responded.

"No, thanks," he sighed. Everything he needed was the certainness that Elijah was okay and conscious again. "Except for a time machine maybe, but I don't think that this is realistic."

"I'm afraid no." His low spirits were clearly audible, which prompted her to enter the room and walk to him. "Do you want a herbal tea?" she offered, when she had sat down onto the edge of the bed. The only important fact right now was supporting him and leave out the things that had occurred between them.

He didn't feel like tea. There weren't many things that had a calming effect on him, especially on such days. "Thank you but no." For a while he stayed silent and just relinquished in her proximity, even though they didn't touch. "Cal?"

Her eyes met his sad ones. "Yes?"

"Am I a bad father? Because this wouldn't have happened, if I had been with him. And I'm asking myself that again and again. What would have happened if I had picked him up and not believing that nothing would happen? I've always had a six sense…why not when it comes to my son?"

A light shiver ran over her back, when she heard his words. "Oh Horatio," she breathed out deeply and reached for his hand instinctively. "You shouldn't think like this. You're a wonderful father and you do anything for your son. But even you can't change fate, no one can," she talked insistently but gently to him. She thought about her discussion with Elijah and knew that the boy adored his father, even though he hadn't admitted that. "You've done everything in your power to protect him. It's impossible to do more. You can't protect him from…anything."

"But we already had so many cases concerning teenagers having an accident after a concert…" However there had mostly been alcohol involved, which fortunately for the driver hadn't been the case. Inexperience and bad driving conditions had been the reasons. "I should have known better," he declared and this made the situation even worse.

"And then? What would you have done? Forbid him to go with his friend? You would have stalled fate, but you wouldn't have changed it. I know that you blame yourself for this," she said and stroked his forearm, "but instead you should be grateful, that the accident didn't end differently."

"I don't even want to imagine that..," H murmured and let alone the thought about losing his son and therefore the most important person in his life let his eyes sting. "I could have picked him up, like every other father…" Okay, this wasn't that easy with a teenager, especially in their situation, but nevertheless. "Or I shouldn't have allowed him to go to the concert." Which was even more improbable.

"Then he would have been mad at you," she tried to build him up which was difficult as expected. "And probably would have gone without your permission. Or he would've wrapped his mom around his finger. Either way you couldn't have prevented it, Horatio."

"I know that…but that doesn't mean I have to accept it..," he sighed and wiped his eyes. "Or like it…"

"But as long as you won't accept it…you'll torture yourself needlessly," she said quietly. "And this won't help anyone."

He didn't have an answer to that, so he stayed silent. There was perhaps no one who could accept that it wasn't their fault when their own child gut hurt. Or at least he couldn't, who wanted to protect his son as good as possible.

Calleigh noticed his closed manner, felt his self-doubts, so she skidded closer to his upper body and laid her other hand on his shoulder. "It is not your fault, Horatio. Do you hear me? You did nothing wrong. Elijah will get better and then he will annoy you with questions about his own car, which you're supposed to buy."

"Preferably…I don't want him to drive ever again, but he would never forgive me for that," he sighed, even though it was an appealing idea. As well as he could he ran his thumb over her hand and took a deep breath.

"Right, he would never forgive you and you don't want that, do you?"

"No," he quickly shook his head. "He's everything I have at the moment." He wanted to make his son happy, that was his greatest goal.

"You have Samantha and us..your friends.." Who, when she thought about it, had no idea about the situation, but she didn't want to mention it. "We're always there for you."

This answer was all he needed. "Friends, hm? Okay..," he nodded sadly and hid more or less under his blanket. "I know that you're there and I'm grateful for that."

"And you got…me," she completed her remark, because she could read between the lines. "If you still want me that is." It wasn't exactly the most romantic moment to tell him, but she knew that this issue bothered him too.

"Of that there has never been a doubt," he assured her and looked up to her. Elijah's accident had showed him that life can be really short and that you had to take every chance.

Smiling she leaned down to kiss him. Then she clutched his big hand with hers and gently placed a kiss on the back. "Everything is going to be fine. We will make it. Together."

Smiling lightly he looked at her and nodded. He needed her by his side. He had lived too long without having someone and Cal was the right one. "Will you stay?" he asked her and even though he had never been a man of pleading, he did. "Please?"

There was only one answer to that. "Yes."

Happily he let go of her, though it was actually her holding him, to show her that she could join him anytime. "Thank you."

She accepted the unspoken invitation and slipped out of her shoes, though she wasn't really dressed for bed.

For the first time this day, Horatio couldn't help but grin. "You know, I can lend you a T-shirt. It's surely comfier than Jeans and blouse, hm?"

In a pinch she would also wear his boxershorts, because she saw that he was doing a bit better. "I think that's a good idea."

"Sometimes I surprise myself," he winked at her and stood up. "It's probably long enough…for a nightdress," he smirked and reached for one of his good College T-Shirts. "The bath is behind this door and while you get ready, I will turn off the lights downstairs and lock the door, okay?" He wanted to give her some privacy, which wasn't easy when you just wore your underwear.

"Okay. Then we both have something do to," she smiled and walked with a t-shirt in her hand to the bathroom. The day had started with a shock, but with a little bit of luck it would turn to good account. "See you in a bit."

"In a bit," he nodded and left the room. He hadn't forgotten about Elijah, but the certainness that Cal would be there for him lifted a bit the burden from his shoulders. Downstairs he turned off all the lights, grabbed the telephone and locked the door. You never knew. Upstairs he turned off the light too and so it was dark when he padded back into the bedroom, where Calleigh had already made herself comfortable.

"I've talked to Alexx earlier," she informed him when she noticed the phone in his hands. "She's thinking of Elijah, Samantha and you."

"Yeah, this sounds like Alexx," he replied and put down the phone onto his nightstand, before he crawled into the bed. "Thanks for coming to the hospital," he said quietly and tentatively wrapped his arm around her waist.

"This was the least I could do," she answered him without hesitation and drew close to him.

"And I love you for that," he whispered and hummed happily when she huddled up to him. It didn't matter that it was about 86°F outside. Nothing was better than being close to Cal.

While resting her head on his shoulder she started to draw small patterns on his chest and noticed that he relaxed more and more and this was important. Therefore she didn't stop with it when she noticed that fatigue conquered him. "I love you too, Handsome."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The first ring hadn't stopped before Horatio was upright in bed. It was pitch dark in the room and he didn't know what time it was, but in this very moment he could care less. Just like that fact that he was probably waking up Calleigh due his reaching for the telephone and almost dashing the bedside lamp onto the floor in his commotion. He had other priorities. "Caine?" he answered nervously and clutched his blanket with the other hand. "He is?? Really?? Oh my god…oh my god…," he stammered and listened to the woman on the other side. "Thank you, thank you very much…yes I will…thanks again..," he said goodbye and hung up.

Calleigh was also awoken by the ringing and was sitting in the bed too after she had turned on her lamp. While he had been on the phones she had stayed quiet, but now after he had hung up it, she couldn't contain herself. "Tell me already…what did they say?" She didn't assume that it was bad news, because her friend's no, partner's expression was more than happy.

"He woke up. He's conscious and is of sound mind. He had answered every question they had asked him without hesitation," he told her happily and let the phone drop onto the bed. "Isn't that fantastic??"

"More than that actually," she said relieved. "That's wonderful. I'm so happy that he's doing fine." Until now she didn't know anything about Elijah's injuries, but didn't want to be too nosey. But after last night, where a lot of things had changed, it probably wasn't all that nosey. "So he doesn't have serious injuries?"

Sighing Horatio leaned against the headboard and looked at her. "He has a whiplash, excoriations in his face, bruises from the seat belt and a broken leg. But no internal bleedings and this is very, very good."

"Yeah it definitely is," she nodded and leaned against his shoulder to have a look at the alarm clock. "5:30...visiting time starts at 8, right?"

"Yeah, for a usual visitor maybe," Horatio grinned and wrapped his arm around her. "However…we still need some time, aren't we? You have to get ready for work and if it's possible giving me a lift to the hospital, because my car is still waiting there…hopefully."

"Right. That's why I asked. So we have enough time for breakfast and I don't want to hear any excuse, Mister. You will eat something before we take off, got that?" she playfully tipped her finger against his chest. "I don't want you to pass out or something." This could happen faster than one preferred.

"Aye, aye, Ma'am," he grinned broadly and kissed her temple. He was in such a good mood right now, that he would comply with her every wish.

***

"Okay then, give Elijah my regards, although we haven't met, okay? And if something occurs, don't hesitate to call me," Calleigh briefed Horatio in the hospital's parking lot. They had taken their time this morning, had their breakfast and only then they had taken off. In a jiffy Calleigh would drive to her apartment when she had to change and then drive to the lab, hoping that Eric hadn't had other crazy theories during the night. She had made a deal with Horatio to keep silent and therefore Lt. Caine would take some personal days and keep away from work.

Much as she would have liked to visit Elijah, she knew that this wasn't the best moment for it. His mother would be there too and since she officially didn't know the boy, she knew it could get quite awkward. "I have to go, otherwise I'll be late and Eric has a new bet," she smiled flatly and stretched herself to give him a goodbye kiss. "I'll see you later? Just give me a call and we can arrange everything."

"Mhm, I will," he murmured against her lips and gave her a proper kiss. "Don't let yourself get teased by Eric and if he does, tell him that he can salvage the floaters next month, hm?" he smirked cheekily and hugged her. "And yes, I will pass along the regards."

This was the old Horatio and Calleigh loved that. "Oh Eric will be ecstatic about that," she giggled. Satisfied she nodded at him and waited until he entered the hospital.

***

With a "Hey" he entered the room and smiled broadly when he saw his son awake.

"Dad," the boy greeted him quietly and was overjoyed to see his father.

"Good morning, Samantha…"

"Likewise," she nodded and couldn't leave her boy's side.

"How are you feeling, Eli? Are you in any pain?" Horatio asked while he sat down onto the bed.

"No, I'm not. I..Dad…I.."

"Hey...what's wrong?" he asked worried and saw that his son was fighting with himself.

"Dad, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Eli blurted suddenly.

"You don't have to be. It's not your fault, okay? Do you understand, Elijah? It's absolutely not your fault..," Horatio talked insistently but soothing to him.

"It is. I knew that Tom didn't have his license for long and still I drove with him…and we turned up the music and laughed and..," the boy sobbed and that stung Horatio.

"Eli…son, it's not your fault. No one is mad at you. We're just glad, that you're doing fine and nothing worse has happened, okay? Everything is going to be fine," H shook his head. His son was jazzed and agitated.

Samantha felt that it would be better to leave the two men alone and so she decided to get herself a cup of coffee.

"I'll never able to play baseball again, Dad."

Astonished and shocked Horatio looked at him. "But why not? Your leg is just broken. You can play again, as soon as it's healed."

"Definitely not."

"But of course. Or are you throwing with your leg? No you aren't. Everything is going to be fine, Son, I promise."

More and more tears found their way out and rolled over Elijah's cheek, and caused Horatio to go all dewy-eyed.

"I'm just so happy that you're with us Eli. There's nothing more important than that, okay? You'll soon get well," he told him and leaned down, so he could clasp him in his arms without hurting the boy. That his son was crying in his presence hadn't happened for a long time, but for Horatio it felt wonderful, because it was big act of faith. And he reciprocated the gesture wholeheartedly; only with him it was relief that his son was more or less okay. Carefully he held him and stroked his hair, just like he had done when Elijah had been a baby. "Shh, we'll make it partner. Soon you're out of here and then it won't take long until you're on the field again."

As good as he could Elijah nodded and wiped away his tears. "O-okay," he muttered and let his arms fall. "I love you, Dad."

"Me too, Junior..," H smiled and grasped a hanky.

"Dad..I don't want this any longer."

Horatio looked at him confused and wiped away his tears. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want to be hidden any longer. Every time the doctors mentioned my dad, I didn't know if they meant you or Paul; and I never knew what to say." New tears loomed. "Dad I don't want this any longer."

This sting Horatio's heart even more. "I..I know, but-"

"No, Dad. No buts. This is my life and I don't want that," Elijah interrupted him. "Dad please…don't you want that too?"

"Of course I do; you're my son."

"So why don't you do it then?"

This was a reasonable question Horatio had to admit. And when he remembered that Samantha had called him and not the hospital, because they hadn't associated him with Elijah, it turned his stomach. And now when his son was looking at him with teary eyes and just wanted to belong made him feel like a criminal. "I.. I will get the required forms as soon as possible and fill them in with your mom, okay? And if you still want to do it, you can sign it and you'll be a Caine…by name."

"Indeed??"

"Yes. But you're going to concentrate onto healing, deal? We can take care of the other things later."

"It's a promise?"

"Yes, it's a promise, Elijah."

"Then it's settled," the boy smiled.

"What's settled?" Samantha asked curiously when she appeared again with her coffee.

"Oh just something we should have dealt with a long time ago, right Son?"

The boy couldn't help but grin. "Yep."

***

Horatio's kitchen was still a new arena for Calleigh and therefore the cooking proceeded a bit slower than normal. But she was sure that this would change soon and this encouraged her. Just like the fact that he had called her in the afternoon to tell her that Elijah was doing fine so far and the doctors didn't expect any complications. Furthermore they had arranged to meet at his house tonight, so it would be easier for the hospital to reach Horatio. But she didn't mind at all. She was with him and she didn't need more to be happy. Oh well…they were separated again at the moment, but this time only spatial, because her partner had taken a call and had disappeared with the phone into the living room.

So she had to set her hand to the salmon casserole alone. She got this receipt from Tim, but Horatio didn't need to know, if he ever came back into the kitchen.

"Yeah okay, thanks I wish you a nice evening too," Horatio said goodbye and put the telephone onto the kitchen counter. "So how far did you get?" he asked curiously and stood right beside her to examine her progress. Since Cal knew the receipt he was nothing more than a handyman in his own kitchen. And the worst thing was, that he didn't mind it a bit.

"I'm almost done. You just have to explain me this infernal machine of an oven," she smiled and layered the last charge of the cheese into the gratin dish, where could already be found potatoes, salmon, herbs, garlic and a shot of oil. "You need to get grocery shopping with Tim..you need a good olive oil. That's an essential thing in a good kitchen." She had learned a lot from Tim. After she had put the lid onto the dish, she wiped her hands onto a towel and turned to him. "So who was that?"

"Michael and Janet," he answered her dutifully and saw in her questioning gaze that this wasn't enough information. "My ex-in-laws? That's a mouthful to say. Anyway, they're Elijah's grandparents and they wanted to make sure if everything is all right. As well with Elijah as with Samantha.. and probably with me too," he smirked. "You can go shopping with Tim for me," he joked and regulated the oven. "It's not that complicated."

"I'd rather do a DNA analysis than see through this machine," she laughed without meaning it seriously. Then she told him about the news from the lab. "Speaking of Tim, he asked me if he should cook you a chicken soup. The poor guy is afraid of you not coming back…"

"He's afraid of the paperwork," Horatio laughed softly and got serious again. "As good as the soup tastes…I don't think I'm such a good actor," he shook his head and leaned against the oven, which needed to get warm. "And what did Eric do? Did he invite himself to taste the soup too?"

"Tim had talked with me alone prudently," she said while she thought about the other information Horatio had told her. "You're still on good terms with your ex-in-laws? That's good. There are so many families at loggerheads…you constitute a nice exception."

"Well I don't have that much contact with them which is natural. But we meet every year on Christmas and Elijah's birthday and it certainly wouldn't be good for the boy if we don't talk to each other. At the beginning they weren't enthusiastic about the divorce…but meanwhile they accepted it. Especially since Samantha has found someone else," he explained to her with a neutral tone in his voice. "Good thinking of Speed, you never know when it comes to Eric."

"It's nice to hear that about the in-laws." She herself came from a family that was anything but perfect and so she knew that an intact environment was very important for children. "I hope you can wait till the casserole is ready, it will take about 30 minutes."

"Of course. There's something I want to talk with you anyway," he nodded and reached for this wine. "Should we make ourselves comfortable in the living-room?"

Wondering she looked at him. "What do you want to talk about?" she asked worried.

"Nothing bad in case you assume that. It happened in the hospital today," he told her and grabbed her hand to drag her out of the kitchen.

"Wait," she laughed and stopped him. "I should probably put the casserole into the oven, or we can wait for a long time for dinner." That done, she once again took his hand and followed him even though she had no idea what he was talking about.

"You're always thinking with your stomach, Cal," he chided her lovingly and sat down on the couch. When she tried to sit down next to him, he shook his head and pulled her into his lap so she was straddling him. "Much better," he grinned mischievously and took a sip of his whine. "Elijah confessed something to me…which gave me a hard fight and still does actually," he started with the topic and laid one arm around her to give her some support.

Startled she looked at him. "Has it something to do with the accident?"

"Indirectly, yes," he nodded and tried to find a good beginning. "You remember your question? About the non-existing kids? If I would hide them like Eli? Well he confessed to me that he doesn't want to be hidden any longer. That he didn't know if the doctors meant me or Paul when they were talking about his dad…"

She nodded. It was already hard to understand for an adult, but for a teenager? "It stands to reason. He wants to find his place in the family."

"Yes…and I promised him that he will have a place in the Caine family most of all. Technically I wanted to permit that when he turns 21, but after today…I changed my mind. I'm going to make the necessary calls, request the documents and make it possible for him to change his name as soon as possible. So he will be a Caine.. not Fisher."

Calleigh watched Horatio's face closely and she saw that he was very proud. "Then it's like it should have been from the beginning. It's wonderful and I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you, but I should actually be ashamed of hiding my own son. I still have an uneasy feeling I have to admit, but I think it's the right decision. If it makes Elijah happy, it makes me happy too." It was that easy. "And this also answers your question, hm?"

Tenderly she rested her arms on his shoulders, so her hands met behind his neck, bent forward and nudged his tip of the nose with her own. "Yes, this answers my question." This would have been an issue of dispute.

"Very good," he leaned forward to kiss her, but couldn't since she bent backwards. "Meanie."

"Who me?" she giggled.

"Yes you, Ma'am," he nodded, but couldn't hide his own smile. "I've been a very good boy today."

"And you should get your reward for that…," she grinned and added in a whisper, "…later."

"Mhm, that's more than mean," he laughed and leaned back again. "I'll get you back to that."

"I'm counting on it."

"I keep my promises, Ma'am. Scouts honor," he winked at her and had a very good time.

_**Tbc**_

**Thanks a lot for the reviews….**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Calleigh felt a little bit queasy, when she stood in front of Elijah's room on Thursday on her lunch break. This would possibly be the only chance to talk with the boy without any interruption about something that she had on her mind since her talk with Horatio. Since she knew that Horatio was on his way to the lawyer to get the paperwork done for the change of name, she hoped to find the boy alone. In the hope that Samantha wasn't present, she took a deep breath and knocked.

A little bit bored Elijah flipped through a car magazine. He wanted to go home, but as long as the whiplash hadn't healed, the doctors wouldn't allow him to leave. And of course his parents had agreed to that. No surprise, since they weren't the ones going stir-crazy in here and got teased by the nurses. Life wasn't fair, especially not when there was the next nurse who wanted his blood. But at least she had the patience to wait till he called her in. "Yeah?" he called and didn't look up from his magazine.

Carefully Cal stuck her head in at the door and probed the situation. Elijah was alone. _"Okay, then it's all or nothing now."_ She made a step into the room, but didn't close the door behind her. "Hi...am I interrupting?"

Surprised Eli put his magazine down and smiled lightly. "Miss Calleigh. What are you doing here?" He hadn't bargained on her.

That meant no. So she closed the door behind her and positioned herself at the end of the bed. "I wanted to see how you're doing..," she started and rummaged around in her handbag till she pulled out a box of Oreos, "…and to give you a little consolation." She walked around the bed so she could give it to him. "I hope you're doing fine?"

"Finally something decent to eat," Eli grinned when he took the cookies with a thankful smile. "I'm bored…but they won't allow me to leave until my neck is okay…because I need to use crutches," he sighed and opened the box. "But otherwise I'm fine."

"I'm glad to hear that," she told him honestly. In her job she had a lot of contact to casualties, but this one got close to her. "Your father is crazy about them, so I thought you'd like them too."

"The apple doesn't fall far from the trees, huh?" he munched his cookies and sat up a bit. "Why don't you sit down a bit?" he offered her and pointed to one of the visitor chairs next to his bed. "Dad told you about the accident?" The answer was apparent, but he wanted to ask her anyway.

"Actually it was Alexx…your father was jazzed. We all were," she added and sat down. Smiling about the way he was darting at the cookies she looked at him. "You can address me informally, you know? Otherwise I'm feeling a little odd."

"Odd?" He looked at her puzzled. "Why?" It wasn't that he had anything against it, but he was curious and Calleigh was after all still a stranger more or less.

"Because I feel like a stranger then. I mean we know each other and so this would be nice, don't you think?"

"Okay, cool," he shrugged and smiled at her mischievously, just like his father. "Aunt Alexx had been here too," he told her out of the blue, because he didn't know what to say. He didn't know the woman all that well and even though he really wanted to ask her about his dad, he didn't want to be too obtrusive.

"I'm convinced of it. And she kissed you more than once, right?" She knew them inside out.

"Oh yes," he rolled his eyes. "She was worse than mom…and I couldn't fight back. She took advantage of that. But at least she didn't want to patch me up, dad said that this happened to him from time to time. Whatever he means by that; it seems like he's not very fond of doctors."

Grinning she shook her head. "Not really." Since she didn't have much time to have her concern to get off her chest, she approached the bed with her chair. "There's something I need to clarify with you, Elijah."

"Okay, I won't run," the boy smiled and looked at her curiously. "What's it all about?" Maybe she had good news. Now that would be great.

Calleigh wasn't as cool with it as Elijah, but she didn't want to dance around the subject any longer. "You remember our talk in the ice cream parlor? I promised you back then that I won't tell your father about it and I kept my word. But in the meantime so many things have happened..," she looked at him, "…and now I'm on the horns of a dilemma."

"I'm not sure if I can follow you, Calleigh," he said quietly. Of course he could remember the talk. "What happened? Is something wrong with dad?" he asked alarmed.

She took a moment to answer that. "In a way, yes, something has happened. He has changed…positively changed. I was at his house the evening after your accident and we talked. We decided to make a fresh start." Now she was hoping that the boy was still okay with the fact that they were a couple again.

She didn't need to worry about that, because the first thing that came into Elijah's mind was "That's fantastic" and with that a huge smile. "And he didn't tell me anything about it, typical dad," he murmured acting annoyed.

This took a load off her mind and she laughed freely. "Oh well, I'm sure that your dad had other things to worry about in the last four days," she came to her boyfriend's defense. "He told me a lot, openly and this was a big step for him. I blamed him back then that he didn't trust me and he swallowed his pride. Now it would be my time to be honest with him."

"You want to tell him that we met? Oh no, no, no, Calleigh. You can't do that. Dad won't like that.." This would be a lecture. Not only had he met Calleigh, no, he had also had his fingers in things that had nothing to do with him. "He always tells me that I shouldn't go to the PD," he pulled a face and didn't like the idea at all.

Elijah was quite right about that, but it didn't help her. "So you say that we shouldn't tell him?" she wanted to know, because you never knew what was going on in a teenager's head, who had his own goals and strategies and wasn't really objective.

"I don't know what to say. Can't we pretend that we haven't met before?" he asked hopefully. "Dad is in such a good mood right now and that will definitely lower his mood." And that was never a good thing.

Calleigh hung her head in confusion. She hadn't reckoned with so much resistance coming from Elijah, even though she couldn't blame him. The boy was bright and confident, but that didn't save the situation. "It wouldn't be a problem normally, I would never break my promise..but...," she sighed, "…the situation is precarious."

"I don't know, Calleigh. I mean…he finally agreed to change my name and when he gets wind of the fact that I acted against his will…" They both were in a mess. "Oh my…what a mess."

"Then I have to come up with something else." Which meant that she wouldn't tell Horatio at all. And this wouldn't make her remorse any better. She lowered her gaze and played with the handholds of her bag.

"Hmm, yeah..," Elijah nodded and almost jumped out of the bed when he heard a knock on the door. "Oh dear!" he murmured and already knew by the sound of the knocking that it was his father. "Maybe you don't have to…" His dad had the habit to be in the wrong place in the wrong time. "Come in!"

Horatio was pleased. The appointment with the lawyer had helped him a lot and even though there was a lot of paperwork waiting to be done, it wasn't impossible and that alone made him happy. With a huge smile he opened the door and immediately started talking. "I brought along your laptop and this new…Calleigh?" Taken aback he stopped in the middle of the sentence and the room.

That was all she needed and at the first moment she looked as taken aback as Horatio. "Oh, hi, Horatio..," she smiled at him. "I thought you were still at your appointment?"

"Uhm, no? It's already finished and I just wanted to stop by shortly and deliver this," he answered her and lifted the laptop bag. What was much more interesting to him was something else though. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Elijah pulled his punches and stayed silent, so he wouldn't confuse or annoy his father even more.

"I supplied Elijah with provisions," she replied, "and I wanted to see him plus asking him how he's doing."

"Hmm." Suspiciously he looked between his girlfriend and his son and had the undefined feeling that there was more behind it. The way they were sitting there with their 'who me' expressions…there had to be something wrong. "Just like that?" he asked and put the bag onto the small table beneath the window.

"Uh Dad, I think there's something we need to tell you," Eli murmured and watched his father reaching for the other chair.

"Oh?"

Surprised Calleigh turned her head into Elijah's direction and looked at him questioningly.

"Uhm, yeah," the boy said and looked doubtingly at Calleigh. "Namely…and please don't be angry.."

"Oh when it starts like this, I certainly am going to be angry…," Horatio sighed and didn't want to know.

Calleigh felt helpless and she didn't want Elijah to be the recipient of Horatio's anger when it should be her. "It has to do with the fact that I kept something from you because I gave Elijah my word.." She swallowed. This was worse than being interrogated. "Eli and I…we had a talk some time ago."

Horatio raised his brows and looked at Cal. "A talk?" Now that was interesting. "May I ask how and where?"

"I waited for Calleigh at the PD," Eli said meekly.

"You did what?" Horatio whispered.

"Waited for Calleigh, after quitting time…at the PD, Dad."

"And then we've been to an ice cream parlor," Calleigh threw in, because she saw that Horatio wasn't pleased about these facts. "So we could talk privately."

"Let me get this straight," Horatio lifted his hand so they wouldn't interrupt him. "You," he looked at his son, "waited at the PD for Calleigh? Just like that? Even though I told you more than once, that you shouldn't?"

"Uh..yes," Eli nodded.

"And you," now he looked at Cal, "went with him to an ice cream parlor because….?"

"…I considered, that it would be better not talking about us on the parking lot," she answered him honestly.

Horatio listened to that patiently. "And this brings me back to you," he focused on his son. "You interfere with my love life because…"

"I didn't want you to be upset any longer Dad and I hoped that I could convince Calleigh to give you a second chance."

Horatio couldn't do more than rubb his forehead at first. "Elijah, I've told you so often, that you shouldn't go the PD. What do you think would have happened if someone would have apprehended you? This could have brought us into trouble."

"I know that, Dad," the boy said quietly. "But not any more…right?"

Horatio knew what he was aiming at. "No, not any more. But at that day…" Sighing he ran his hand through his hair. "I'll have to watch out for you two conspirators, am I right?"

Calleigh stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "We promise to behave, right Eli?"

"Oh of course, Calleigh," the boy grinned and you could see that he was relieved.

"What I'm getting into now?" Horatio sighed playfully and planted a kiss on Cal's hair. "So my plan about you two meeting each other has been settled already…" Which wasn't all that bad anyway, since he hadn't had a plan.

"We beat you to it, Darling," she nodded. But there was something else on her mind. "I'm sorry that you had to be told like this; I had a bad conscience for the whole time, because I promised Elijah to stay quiet. That's why I'm here, to ask him about permission to tell you."

He wasn't overly happy about it, because he had really racked his brains, but it was too late now. Plus he didn't want to risk another argument for this reason. "It's okay. A promise is a promise...but next time you let me in your secrets, okay? Because then I know what's going on behind my back."

"But of course, Dad.."

"But that's what it's all about…you having no idea what's going on," Calleigh teased him and kissed his cheek. It didn't bother her that Elijah saw it from the first row.

"Yes, yes and then I get surprised like that…"

"I thought you like surprises, Dad? Mum said that you almost passed out on her when she told you I was on the way," the boy grinned cheekily and made his father blush. So he changed the subject quickly. "Would you give me the laptop, please?"

"Rascal," Horatio snorted amused and handed him the laptop.

Satisfied about the ending of the talk, even though she had never imagined it like that, Calleigh looked at her watch and stood up. "I really have to go now or Tim will get nuts," she smiled and patted Elijah's shoulder. "Get well soon, okay?" she said good bye. Her relationship with Eli was still a bit strange, but she was positive that it would change in the near future. Then she walked to her boyfriend, who was already waiting by the door. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Positive. Just call me when you call it a day and we arrange something," he answered her and stole a small kiss from her. "Take care, okay?"

Elijah watched them with a grin. He should open a singles dating agency, he seemed to have a sure feeling for that. "Hello, there are kids in the room," he complained laughingly and got an evil glance in response. "Well I'm right.."

"Maybe I should come with you," Horatio murmured and was poked in his side.

"No, no. You'll stay and act the solo entertainer for your son. Take as much time as you need." With one last glance she waved at the boys and left the room.

"Now I'm curious what you have in stock, Dad," Elijah snickered and was really curious about his dad's skills as an entertainer.

"Oh well…there are some things I have in stock after all I've heard today..," Horatio shook his head.

"Are you mad at me?" the boy asked shyly, because he didn't like his father's inflection.

"No. You acted with caution and initiative, but I'm not mad at you. And when it was you who made Calleigh rethink everything, I'm thankful. I just can't become friends with your way. That's all," he clarified and put himself off. "Let's stop thinking about it, Junior."

Eli knew better than to overdo things and so he leaned back. He hated this stupid cast and neck brace. There was no way to lie or sit comfortably. "When can I go home, Dad?" he whined.

"When the doctors give their okay; not a day earlier." Horatio knew what the boy was driving at, but that was out of question. "We will talk to the doctor at the round and ask him about his opinion. But I have a nice pastime for you."

Curiously Eli sat up again. "Yeah?"

"Yep. You can gather yourself a piece of paper, a pencil and practice your new name," he told him while keeping a straight face, though he wanted to smile.

It took a moment for the information to sink in. Moved he looked at his father and was hardly able to say something. "S-so it's official? For real?"

"Not yet official, because we have to sign a lot of paperwork, but the lawyer will bother about that. I can't tell you when…but you can't start exercising too early," he said and was glad to see his son so happy.

Even though he had thought about this subject over the last days, he was still shocked about what his father had confirmed him. With tearful eyes he blinked at his dad. "Thanks, Dad. Thank you so much," he sniffled. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, Son," H replied and laid his hand on his son's. "It was about time and I'm very proud that you will be called Caine. This makes me incredibly happy."

"That's so awesome," Elijah sighed happily and already was up to mischief. "Now I just need a cool car and I'm satisfied all around."

"You my boy, will heal and then get your driving license someday…and then we'll find you a nice, secure car. Maybe an old Dodge or a station wagon," he listed and laughed when the boy's face got longer.

"Don't you feel sympathy with me? I'm injured and you should build me up and not scaring me with such a horror scenario." A short break followed. "I'm really happy that you and Calleigh are back together again."

"Believe me Eli, me too..me too."

_**Tbc**_

**Sorry for the small delay, but I've been on holidays for the last days. Thank you all for your reviews, they mean a lot to me. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Horatio wasn't sure of who was happier at this moment – his son or himself. It probably balanced each other. But they had every reason to be happy; Horatio had fetched his son from the hospital after all, since the doctors had given their Okay. Consequently the boy didn't wear his neck brace any longer and the excoriations were almost healed. The only thing that remained from the accident was the walking plaster, which would still accompany Elijah for the next weeks. Horatio couldn't draw conclusions about the emotional effects yet, but until now his son seemed to be doing fine. And as long as his son was fine, he was fine. "I'll take you home, okay?" he asked him after he had turned down the radio. Someday he would be deaf thanks to his son, he knew that. "Mom is certainly waiting for you anxiously."

He wasn't anxious about that at all. His mom would shepherd him 24/7. So Elijah had already been working on a plan in the hospital when he had been waiting for his dad and this plan got more and more attractive. Now he just had to convince his dad about it. "Mhm, could we make a stop first?"

"Do you need ointment or something?" Horatio asked, because the doctor hadn't told him about that; but this didn't mean anything. "Or do you speculate on a second breakfast?" he grinned, without taking his eyes from the street.

"Neither, though I wouldn't object a second breakfast," he smiled. He wouldn't mourn after the hospital's food. There was silence between them for a few seconds. "You're looking good, Dad."

"Uhumm," Horatio couldn't help but smile. "What do you want?"

Elijah gave him his best smile. "Would you mind driving to the PD?"

There was some hanky-panky going on. "Why should I? I'll start working again at noon."

"Because we're on the way… and you can see Calleigh?" he listed up the advantages of his terrific idea. "And because I'd really like to see the lab from the inside."

"Hmm, I'm afraid you have to wait for that Eli, there are way too many stairs and hallways and you shouldn't overwork yourself.." Seeing Calleigh however was an argument after his taste. "But you're right about Cal."

It figured that he would meet opposition, but didn't give up that easily. "I'm fine, Dad. Really. And I'm sure that you have lifts in the lab, right?" Almost every public building had lifts.

"Of course we have lifts, but not outside..," he explained. "I just don't want you to overreach yourself..," he sighed and turned at the next crossing. "Your mom will have my head then and I like my head." Yet he drove into the right direction.

Since the logical arguments didn't work, plan B became effective. "Pleeeease?? I've wanted to go there for soooo long and I was never allowed." It wasn't a lie.

"We'll see and stop this puppy dog face, you inherited it from me, so I'm immune to it." Of course it worked with him, but he didn't want to admit it. "If you would pay attention to your surroundings, Son, you would have noticed that we're actually heading to the PD."

Silently Eli looked outside and needed a moment to find his way. "Oh…oh are we really??" he turned to his dad.

"Yep. So you can at least have a look from the outside and get some fresh air, before your mom shuts you in the house," he smirked and after a few more crossings, he turned onto the parking lot. "You'll stay in the car, I'll help you." He didn't feel like Elijah breaking his other leg too.

"Oh man," Eli murmured when his dad got out of the car and rolled his eyes. The following weeks would be very exhausting. But since he was just before his goal he let his dad as he liked.

At first Horatio got the crutches out of the trunk, leaned them against the car and helped his son out. "Maybe a broken arm would have been better, hm?" he murmured and handed him the crutches. "I'll call Cal to tell her that we're here.." With that he whipped out his cell phone and pressed the speed dial.

***

Delighted but confused, Calleigh emerged a few minutes after Horatio's call and smiled when she saw him standing next to one of the benches. What amazed her even more was the fact that Elijah was with him. Actually the plan had been, that Horatio would fetch his son from the hospital and turn him in at Samantha's. Seemingly there had been a change of plans. "Horatio..Eli..has something happened?!" she asked worried, before she reached them.

"Yes, my son had an idea once again," Horatio replied amused and planted a small kiss onto her forehead. "Hey Sweetheart…" Then he turned to his son again. "I don't know…both of them don't know about you and I'm not sure how they will react."

"Dad..what should happen? Do you think it will annoy your team when they find out about me?" he countered back and made himself comfortable on the bench.

"I don't know…what do you think, Cal? Should we...surprise the boys?"

"Hmm, good question, Handsome," she mused. It wasn't such an easy situation, since they had to do with two different kinds of characters. Eric would be cool with it, but Tim? "The word surprise or maybe even shock is fitting."

"That's what I think..hmm.." He wasn't really sure if they should do it.

"Come on, Dad. We're all gathered here… who knows when we'd get the chance again. Besides it's easier next time when I can finally visit the lab."

Sighing Horatio ducked his head. There was truth in it. "Can you call them?" he turned questioningly to Calleigh. "Officially I'm not here until noon."

"And what should I tell them?" she asked surprised.

"I have no idea, tell them that we have a surprise for them. Use your charm Sweetheart…"

Eli grinned broadly. "I can call them."

"You'd better not do that…"

"All right you two smart alecs," Cal smiled and reached for her cell. "It's enough when I call Eric. I'm sure he will collar Tim." Since she didn't hear any complaints from Horatio she dialed the corresponding number and waited.

***

"Do you get that? Why should we come outside?" Tim asked frowning, while he was walking next to Eric.

"I have no idea, Dude. Cal just said that she wants to show us something and that's outside," Eric shrugged and took it easy. He, in difference to Tim, didn't have the need to scrutinize anything. "We'll see it in a bit."

"It's weird nevertheless," Tim grumbled and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Do you think that Eric is already making bets on what the surprise could be?" Horatio asked amused and still standing in front of the bench, where Calleigh was now sitting next to Eli.

"Are you betting a lot here?" Eli stepped in.

"When Eric is around? Oh yes..," H said amused and ran his hand through his son's hair.

"Oh Dad stop that. You ruin my hairstyle."

"It would be a hairstyle if your hair sees a hairstylist. But it just knows your caps," Horatio countered easily.

"Of course it's a hairstyle…Amber likes it and that's enough."

Horatio just rolled his eyes and bit back a comment when he looked to the entry where their victims appeared. "Let's get the game started."

Tim was the first one who stopped. "Hey, isn't that H?"

"Suit, sunglasses, red hair..yep it's H," was Eric's answer.

"What is he doing here? His shift starts at noon."

"If you continue standing around, you will never know." Boy, sometimes Tim could be really unruly. "Therefore chop-chop..," Eric clapped his hands and continued walking.

Head shaking Tim followed him, though this was still odd to him.

In the meantime Eric had arrived at Horatio and Calleigh who was sitting next to a blond boy with a leg in plaster. "Hi H," he nodded at his boss and smiled at the boy. "Hello." Then he looked at Calleigh. "So what's up?"

"Oh I'm not part of this game," she smiled and leaned back, but prepared to intervene.

"I wanted to introduce you to someone..," Horatio started and waited till Speed arrived. "Mainly the reason why I haven't been in the lab for the last days.."

Interested the boy glanced at the two men. So these were Tim and Eric. He knew the names, but not who was who.

"Yeah?" Tim asked. "And this would be? I thought you were sick?"

"If somebody is sick.. then it's me," Eli murmured to himself and made Calleigh giggle.

Horatio chose to ignore this typical teenage comment and concentrated on the important things. "Oh well, sick as in a cold, no. Sick as in sick of worry because my son had a car accident, yes. May I introduce you to Elijah…Caine?" It wasn't official yet, but the authorities concerned were working on it.

With narrowed eyes, Tim looked at Eric, who seemed to be as surprised as he was. Then his glance wandered between Horatio and the boy. "Say that again, please," he said in disbelief, but the same time didn't wait for an answer. Instead he poked Eric's side. "Did you hear that? The boy is also called Caine?" They wanted to trick him obviously, but they picked the wrong one.

Eric was quicker in combining and grinned at Cal. "Is there something you want to confide us in?" Even though this was unlikely…but the blond hair lead to this conclusion. "Any..you know what I mean… sins of your youth?" he laughed.

"You must be crazy," was all she could say to this. How did it happen that he had such stupid ideas? "Be glad that Alexx didn't hear that, she would pull your ears."

"And wash your mouth with soap," Eli joined in and found this hilarious.

"Yes, that too," Cal nodded. "Handsome, would please clear that up before they pin more on me?"

Surprised about such appalling assumptions, Horatio wasn't sure of what to say. This was typical Eric. "No, Calleigh doesn't have sins of her youth.." He claimed that at least. "And the same goes for me. Elijah is my son..not Calleigh's. His mom's name is Samantha and she's my ex-wife." Now it was out.

"Ah and that," Tim lifted his hand and waved with it, "came into your mind just like that?" Slowly but surely he felt stultified. "I don't know what's going on here, but I have work to do. Just like the two of you." This topic was finished for him and he turned around. On what kind of trip were they?

A little bit helpless Horatio glanced between Speed and the others.

"Are you serious, H? I mean…"

"That Elijah is my son? As true as I'm standing here…," he nodded.

"Wow, this really is a surprise," Eric scratched his head and looked between father and son. "Your eyes H, definitely your eyes and oh man..he's also tilting his head just like you do," he laughed. "He's a Mini-Me."

"Yeah, only that Mini-Me is soon taller," Elijah grinned.

"Speed, come back again," Horatio said a bit louder.

"H…Speed," Eli snickered. "You all have funny names here."

Sullen, Tim stopped, but didn't turn around. If this was true…then Horatio had just blowing smoke and that came hard. Sighing he turned, stuffed his hands into his pockets and watched them from afar.

"Oh well, the Speed is derived from Tim's surname, he's called Speedle and H is.."

"Because we're too lazy to say his full name plus H…is not the boss but a friend," Eric finished Horatio's explanation. "Oh yes, I'm Eric Delko by the way."

"Hi, nice to meet you, Mr. Delko."

"Eric is just fine," he shook his head and couldn't believe it. H was a father. That was just about the limit.

Horatio was happy that Eric had no problems in accepting the boy, but Speed made him worry. Questioningly he looked at him and let him decide if he wanted to consort with them or not.

Tim made an effort, since the others were still standing there and seemingly wanted to see a decision from him. Slowly he walked back to the group. "I don't understand," he admitted when he arrived.

"That's fine, I'll explain it to you when Elijah is back at home.."

"Oh Dad, can't we stay a little bit longer? Come on…you can't leave me alone with mom."

"Of course I can. Why don't you call Amber she can keep you company," he suggested.

This was actually a good idea and Horatio could tell that he was thinking about it. "Hmm, I like that."

"See?" He had just to make sure that Eli wouldn't spend too much with Eric the playboy.

"You know what? I'll help Eli into the car and you men can do…what men do..," Cal stepped in, kissed her boyfriend, stole his keys out of his pocket and accompanied Eli to the car.

Thankful Horatio sighed. "I know this was unexpected…and you have every reason to be mad at me…" As long as they wouldn't react like Cal, he was okay with it.

"More than unexpected," Tim grumbled. "But I'm curious about the explanation."

"If it calms you in any way…you weren't the only ones who had no idea. No one except Alexx and the Chief knew of him. To sum it up, I hid him…yeah you can call it like that, sadly, so my enemies wouldn't become his. When he had been a baby he had been an easy goal and when he grew older..it was deep inside me that I wouldn't tell anyone about him. His mom and I have been divorced for about 14 years now and Calleigh already gave me hell when I told her…so if you could skip her reaction, which would include slapping me, I'd be grateful. And before you think about it, please keep in mind that my son is sitting in the car dead ahead and is watching us."

Eric stepped up to him and spread his arms. "Congratulations, H…even though it's approximately 15 years too late," he hugged his friend and slapped on his back. "And you never told us.." Though he didn't mean it reproachful.

When it was his turn, Tim hold out his hand and nodded at Horatio. "Congratulations," he said calm and impersonal. He still needed some time to stomach that.

"Thank you, it's almost 16 years," Horatio nodded. "If it hadn't been for the accident…he already would have his driving license…," he sighed and shook his head. "How about we all go out tomorrow after shift for a beer or two? My treat and I'll answer any other questions you might have...," he suggested.

"Beer is always good," Eric reacted to this idea and said goodbye. "Agree upon a time and let me know." It looked like the others needed minute alone.

"Sounds good," Tim agreed and glanced at the car. "I'm sorry, you wrong-foot me."

"You're not the only alone. Elijah wanted to see the lab and meet you.. I was also surprised by that," he grinned and followed Speed's gaze to the car, where he saw Calleigh talking to Elijah. "He's full of surprises... So is that okay for you? We could meet at my house or at Stans."

"I think I need a beer," Tim winked. "But first you should give your son a lift home. He needs to rest. We can phone.."

"Yep I wanted to do that anyway and we can talk about that later, when I'm back again," H nodded and said goodbye temporarily. "We'll sort this out later, Speed."

Tim nodded. "Okay, see ya. And don't forget to leave Calleigh here. I'm still the boss here."

"Still, but not for long," Horatio laughed and walked to the car. "We're heading back home now, without further stops," he grinned and gave his girlfriend a squeeze. "We'll see us later. Your boss wants you to work again," he winked at her and hopped into the GMC.

Once again a burden had been lifted from his shoulders and the rest would disappear when he had an honest talk with the boys. That sounded like fun in the true sense of the word.

_**tbc**_


	16. Chapter 16

**Epilog****ue**

Over the moon and after many hours of pains, screams and tears, Horatio stared at his wife, who was lying in bed sleeping the sleep of the just. The past hours had left their marks on her and Horatio could understand that only too well. He wasn't feeling any different, though he hadn't gone through the things Calleigh had to. All the more he was relieved now, that she was doing fine and there hadn't been any complications. Carefully he took her hand and stroked the back with his thumb, anxious of neither waking her nor the little one in his arms. "I love you..," he whispered and stood up, because he knew that someone was waiting for him eagerly outside. With one last glance he made sure that Cal was still asleep he opened the door and stepped out onto the birth house's hallway. Immediately he heard the voice of his 19 year old son, who seemed to be talking to someone on the phone. "Hey Eli..," he called quietly and waited with a big smile for his son running towards him.

He had barely heard his father's voice when he ended the conversation with his girlfriend, even though it wasn't polite. "Uhm, Amber I need hang up…Dad and…it..," he grinned since he didn't know if he would get a little brother or sister, "are here. I'll call you later. Bye." Quickly he stuffed his cell into his pockets and walked instantly to his dad. "I already thought there had been complications," he sighed relieved when he faced them. "Is Cal alright?" Curiously he looked at his father's arms, where the little being was wrapped up in a blanket and didn't make a sound. "Are you sure there's something inside?" he joked and could wait to hold the new addition to the family in his arms.

"Positive, Son," grinned lightly. "Cal is asleep, I guess it was more exhausting than we've thought…and the same goes for this little sunshine here," he smiled proudly like only a father could. "Do you want to hold her?"

"Her? Wow, I have a little sister!" he rejoiced and found this striking. The age gap was huge after all. "I hope I'm doing it right," he furrowed his brows when his dad handed him the small bundle.

"Certainly, you just have to watch out for her head," H nodded and helped him to find the best position. "May I introduce you? Elijah Caine…meet Elaine Caine," he smiled and stroked his little princess' cheek. It wasn't just a coincidence that her name started with an E, but this time it was Calleigh's fault so to say. She had wanted a French name because of her own roots and since Elaine was the French version of Helen, she had liked it a lot. Plus she and her brothers had always loved the King Arthur myths and Elaine had been one of the characters, who fell in love with Lancelot.

Amazed Eli looked at his sister and to have an even better look, he adjusted the blanket. "Hi Elaine…aren't you pretty? I'm your big brother, in the true sense of word," he grinned since he was now taller than his dad. Carefully he cradled the infant in his arms. "Congratulations, Dad."

"Thank you, Junior." No matter how old Eli would be, he would be forever his Junior. "But I can also congratulate you too, you have a great responsibility now," he smiled and squeezed his shoulder. "Can you hold her while I'll call Alexx? I guess that's the best way, she will round up the others.."

"As long as she doesn't start crying," Eli nodded and sat down on one of the chairs, "I'm in for anything."

"I assume that she won't cry as long as she doesn't get hungry;" Horatio shook his head and behold his two children. "She hopefully won't cry as much as you did," he joked and was extremely satisfied with himself and the world. Now he just had to tell the team and everything would be perfect.

The longer he sat there, the braver he became to touch this little wonder in his arms. At first he was frightened of hurting her in any way so he just held her. Carefully he took her tiny fingers between his thumb and forefinger. "Wow," he whispered, "that's amazing." He was holding a little person. Today his family had grown and it felt wonderful.

Full of pride Horatio watched his son while he informed Alexx about the most important news. The last three years hadn't been always easy and today he wasn't sure how they actually made it, but they did and that was the most important fact. Eli's little patchwork family had grown today by one new member and it looked like the boy was happy about it, which was very important to Horatio. His children would always be the most important things in his life and seeing them happy, or at least one of the moment made himself incredible happy.

"Will the others come here too?" Eli asked, while he continued holding the tiny hand, when his father sat down next to him. He guessed that they both grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

"Yes, but they want to give us some time alone, that's at least what Alexx told me," Horatio replied. "It seems like they all gathered at Alexx' and just waited for the call." Yeah that sounded like his team. "Should we go inside and see if Calleigh is awake? I think it's better that Elaine and I are there when she wakes up, or at least one of us anyway…"

"Eric and Tim will definitely drink to this cute little thing here," Eli smiled. He had a pretty good friendship with these two and now and then they also spend the weekend together. When he shifted Elaine a bit, he saw a reaction from her for the first time – an unhappy face. "Uh oh..I think the siren will start in a moment," he feared the worst. "I guess it's better if you take her." It gave him creeps.

"She hasn't eaten so we should really bring her to Calleigh," H nodded and took his daughter. "Do you want to come in for a minute? Saying hi to Calleigh?" He was glad that they got along so well.

"Yes, for a minute and then I have to call Amber," he nodded and stood up so he could open them the door. Carefully he looked into the room and then back to his father. "Seems to be still asleep," he whispered but entered the room anyway. The way Elaine looked it wouldn't take long until the whole house knew that she was hungry.

"Bu not much longer I'm afraid..," Horatio smirked and nodded to the small sports bag. "Hey, would you take a picture of us?" he asked his son and sat down next to his wife who was starting to wake up by that.

"Mhm Handsome…did I fall asleep?" she murmured quietly.

"A little, yes and so did Elaine," he told her and heard the typical _click_. "Oh yes, Eli is here too."

"That he is," thy boy joined in. "Congratulations, mommy. Just a moment please." Quickly he took some more shots before he put the camera onto a shelf. He pressed a few buttons to activate the selftimer and quickly ran to the others and stood right to his dad. "Say cheese," he laughed.

"You're crazy, Junior," Horatio groaned but nevertheless gave his best smile. And exactly with the click, Elaine's cry sounded.

Calleigh sat up slowly and eyed her stepson. "You made your sister cry Eli…you're not allowed to come back again," she laughed and took her crying precious into her arms.

"Oh that's okay, I'm going out with Amber anyway," he replied cheekily. "But now…officially..," he started and leaned down to Calleigh to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Congratulations. I'm happy for all three of you." He ignored the crying for a moment. "She's wonderful when she doesn't make a fuss. And since dad told me that she hasn't eaten yet, I don't want to disturb any longer. We'll see us alter, right? By mommy."

"Thanks Sweetie," Cal smiled and stroked his cheek. "Say Hi to Amber.."

Horatio stood up and accompanied his son out of the room, so his wife would have some private time when a midwife appeared to show her the best way of breast feeding Elaine. "Thank you for being here Eli.."

"You're welcome, Dad. I wouldn't have missed that for anything. I'm just happy that they're both alright, that's the most important thing. Though I hoped for a younger brother, so we could outvote Calleigh, but so..," he grinned broadly, "I need to turn on my charm on Elaine, so she's on my side." He hugged his dad and patted his shoulder. "Oh hey, what about the cigars?"

"We can smoke them when you're 21, Junior," Horatio grinned mischievously. "And now get lost to your girlfriend, rascal…" This boy would never change and Horatio was glad about it. For a moment he watched him leave, waved and then entered the room of his two favorite ladies. A new chapter of life had begun and he was looking forward to fill the pages.

_**The End**_


End file.
